


The Greatest Sorcerer

by SniperJ324



Category: DCU, Marvel, Smallville
Genre: Action/Adventure, Eventual Overpowered Original Character, Eventual Smut, F/M, Multi, Original Character-centric, Romance, Superheroes, Will Probably Become A Small Harem
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2020-01-31 15:38:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18594271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SniperJ324/pseuds/SniperJ324
Summary: We've all seen the story of Clark Kent as he embarked on his journey to become a hero that could protect Earth. Now, witness the tale of another great hero as he rises to become the greatest sorcerer of all time. (Not a replacement fic.) OC Starts off strong, becomes Godlike as the story goes on.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah. Another story.
> 
> This story will start off as a Smallville story, but will eventually include Marvel and the Arrowverse.
> 
> There are a few things to take note of though.
> 
> Firstly, I'll be including alien races from not only DC and Marvel, but also Ben 10. Maybe Mass Effect as well, but probably not.
> 
> Second, as is the case with all of my stories, this will include powers/abilities and elements from other series.
> 
> Third, this will not strictly follow canon. Some things are gonna happen differently, and some things simply won't happen at all due to the presence of a new character. Though some things will stay the same, mostly due to the fact that the OC won't always be there to help with everything. He has his own things to take care of.
> 
> Fourth, expect some characters to be OOC. At least sometimes.
> 
> With all of that said, I hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 1: Homecoming

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hmm' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

Disclaimer: I only own my OC. ____________________________________

[ Space - Light-years Away From Earth ]

"Cortana, how's our course?" Came a male voice that was deep, yet as smooth as silk.

The man was clearly very tall, despite the fact that he was currently sitting down. He had rich, caramel skin with sharp, golden-brown eyes. He also had long, black hair that was neatly twisted, and tied into a low ponytail that reached to just past the middle of his back, along with a beard that was fairly bushy, yet well groomed.

The man was dressed in clothes that seemed fitting for someone of high standing, which served well to enhance his already Adonis level of handsomeness. He was wearing a blood red suit that looked to be made from the finest of materials, paired with a blood red waistcoat, a long sleeved jet black button up underneath it, and a blood red tie. On his feet he had a pair of very expensive looking black formal shoes. He also had on gold cufflinks, and a gold necklace.

Lastly, he had an intricate looking gold ring on his right middle finger, which had a chain on it that connected to a smaller ring on his pinky. For the one on his middle finger, it had two red diamonds on it, with one of the diamonds having an X over it, and a small lion's head. For the smaller ring on his pinky, it had two pistols crossed like an X. (It looks like Tsuna's final ring from KHR, just with different colors. Sorry about the long description.)

"On target Master Jeremiah. It shouldn't be too long if we retain our current speed." Replied a female voice that sounded slightly robotic, but still remained soft.

"I see... Cortana, I'm gonna take a short nap. If I'm not awake by the time we've arrived, you know what to do." The now named Jeremiah said as he slowly stood up from his seat, showing that he was indeed very tall, well over 7' in fact.

"Yes Sir." Cortana said, receiving a nod from Jeremiah as he turned around and started walking to his quarters. Suddenly though, Jeremiah stopped in his tracks as the ship began shaking erratically and multiple lights began flashing.

"Cortana!" Jeremiah yelled over all the loud noises as he quickly ran back to the captain's seat, his mind working faster than most could ever even dream of as he rapidly thought up and threw away multiple solutions to the situation at hand.

"Sir! We're being sucked through a dimensional hole! We could most likely get away from it, but-"

"-But we would be risking heavy internal damage to the ship, I know." Jeremiah cut off his AI as his fingers blurred across a digital keyboard. He could see that the engine, one of the thrusters, and the shield generator had already been damaged, which made him gain a small frown since he had personally built this ship himself from top to bottom, so he knew just how durable it was. It was capable of surviving even planet level explosions with little to no damage, so this simply did not make sense.

"Cortana, it looks like we'll need to-" Whatever Jeremiah was about to say was abruptly put to a halt as he began feeling intense pain. It was to the point that it felt as if all of his bones and muscles were repeatedly being broken down and rebuilt. 

'What the hell is this? Dimensional travel has never affected me like this before!' Jeremiah thought to himself while clenching his fists tightly.

"Master!" Cortana yelled with worry as Jeremiah began screaming in sheer agony.

"C- Cortana! Take- AH! Take control o- of the ship, a- and activate safety m- measures! Where- wherever we land, do n- not let the ship be d- discovered at a- any costs!" Jeremiah yelled through his pain to his AI.

Conflicted, Cortana hesitated. She would always follow her master's orders, but more than anything, she hated to see him in such pain. There had to be something she could do for him.

"Cortana! I'll be f- fine! R- right now I n- need y- you to take c- care of the s- ship!" Jeremiah said, already knowing what she was thinking.

"....Okay. I'll do it Master, but please try to hold on! As soon as we land I'll do everything I can to help you!" Cortana exclaimed before she began connecting her mind to the entire ship.

"I'm c- counting o- on you..." Was the last thing Jeremiah managed to say, before he finally passed out.

"Don't worry Master. I'll protect you. No matter what."

[ Some Time Later ]

"Ugh..." Jeremiah groaned as he slowly, blearily opened his eyes. He could feel that he was on a bed, and from the smell he could tell he was in the med bay. With a wince, he clutched his head with one of his hands to try and soothe his raging headache.

'Huh?' Jeremiah thought with some confusion. His hand didn't feel like it did prior to him falling unconscious.

With blurry vision, Jeremiah brought his hand down in front of his face and squinted his eyes as he tried to get a clear look at it.

"You're finally awake Master." Cortana said with clear relief and happiness, while taking care to not be too loud.

"Cortana, what... My hand..." Jeremiah started as his eyesight finally began clearing up. It wasn't just his hand, his voice also sounded much higher than what he was used to.

"Master... You may want to brace yourself." Cortana said somewhat hesitantly.

With his hand shaking slightly, Jeremiah slowly reached down to pull the cover off of him, only to have his eyes widen in sheer disbelief when he saw his legs after pulling off the cover.

"No..." Quickly getting off the bed, Jeremiah scrambled over to a mirror.

"No no no no no..." Jeremiah said with his eyes growing wider than ever, and his hands shaking as he felt all over his body while looking in the mirror.

His body, formerly extremely fit and standing well over 7' tall, now looked much smaller, closer to about 4', maybe even a little shorter. His hair was shorter, now only reaching to the base of his neck. Hell, he didn't even have his glorious beard anymore.

"What... What the hell happened?" Jeremiah asked in his now high pitched voice as he sat down on the ground, getting himself back under control. He'd been through many different things in his life. Monster slaying, space battles, even a war or two. Throughout all of it, his control over his emotions was very helpful, much like now.

Still, even for him this was a pretty strange situation.

"Master... From all the scans I ran while you were asleep, the results came back the same each time. It... It seems that your body has somehow regressed in age." Cortana said with sorrow in her tone, while Jeremiah just looked at his hands blankly.

'All those years... I've trained my ass off, harder than anyone, for all those years, only for this to happen?' Jeremiah thought with a bit of anger, and rightfully so. This was practically a slap in the face.

"...Cortana, after scanning my body, what age would you say I've been regressed to? Approximately at least." Jeremiah asked while running a hand through his hair. It wouldn't do him any good to just sit and mope about it.

"After running multiple tests, I was able to determine that your current physical age would most likely be four to six years old." Cortana replied as she brought up a holographic image for Jeremiah, showing him the results of his scans.

"Like I thought." Jeremiah muttered with a sigh as he lightly scratched his head.

After thinking to himself for a bit, Jeremiah got into a lotus position and began to concentrate, with his breathing slowing down, his eyes closed, and his body becoming so still that he could almost be mistaken for a statue.

About half a minute later, Jeremiah slowly opened his eyes while letting out a sigh of relief. Bringing out both hands in front of him, with his left hand becoming covered in bright orange flames, a transparent gold bubble appearing around his left hand, while multiple items started smoothly floating around the room.

'At least my magic seems to have stayed at the same level as before. For the most part.' Jeremiah thought as he deactivated his magic, with the floating items going back to their original positions.

Shaking his head, Jeremiah stood up and stretched before deciding to move on to another important issue.

"So where did we end up landing?" Jeremiah asked while walking out of the medbay. It was definitely annoying having such small legs, but he guessed it was something he would just have to get used to.

"We've landed on Earth, Master." The loyal AI replied, already expecting the question sooner or later.

"Earth? That's... Interesting I guess." Jeremiah said as he arrived at the main deck. Looking out of the large windows, he raised an eyebrow at all of the snow and ice he could see.

"I followed your orders, Master. On top of activating all safety systems, I brought us to an area that has zero humans. We're completely undetectable." Cortana said, sounding quite proud of herself.

"Hmm... Good job. Couldn't have done it better myself." Jeremiah praised her with a small smile, making her get a happy look on her holographic face.

"Oh Master... You'll make me blush." Cortana said with an embarrassed tone as she put her hands on her cheeks, getting Jeremiah's smile to widen a bit.

Looking down at himself again though, Jeremiah frowned slightly as he brought one of his hands up and gripped it in front of his face. He would have to work very hard to reach his old level of strength. While he certainly didn't mind working so hard, he actually enjoyed it, it was kind of annoying that he had to do it to get back something that was already his, and that he had already poured so many years of effort into.

'On the bright side, at least I already know exactly how to properly train my body. Plus, it's not like I don't have any ways to speed up the process, even if it's just a little bit.' Jeremiah thought, trying to get himself more motivated.

Nodding to himself, his sharp eyes shone with determination as they glowed bright gold.

In the end, he would just do what had to be done.

[ Years Later ]

In Smallville, Kansas, a young man was sitting at a computer desk in his bedroom, looking up various stories from around the world of everyday people doing amazing things.

The young man had lightly tanned skin, dark brown hair, and blue eyes. He also seemed to be pretty tall for his age, with his standing height being about 6'1".

This young man's name was-

"Clark Kent , you're gonna be late for the bus!" Yelled a female voice.

"Coming, Mom!" Clark yelled back in reply as he turned off his computer, before collecting his things and going downstairs.

Walking into the kitchen, Clark opened the refrigerator and pulled out a glass bottle full of milk. Not bothering to get a cup, he took the top off and simply drank straight from the bottle.

"Ah ah!" Mrs. Kent said as she walked up and took the bottle out of her son's hand with a frown.

Martha Kent was a very pretty woman who stood at about 5'3", with shoulder length brown hair, blue eyes, and a generous bust, which was somewhat hidden by the rather thick shirts and sweaters she usually wore. All in all, she could qualify as a MILF.

"It tastes better out of the bottle." Clark said as he walked over to the cupboards where the dishes were kept.

"Where did you learn your manners?" Martha asked as she sat the bottle of milk down on the table.

"On a farm." Clark replied with some amusement as he pulled out a bowl and a spoon.

"Well, afternoon sleepy head." Mr. Kent said after walking into the house and taking off his jacket.

Jonathon Kent was a tall man, standing at 6'3" tall. He had brown hair, blue eyes, and a light tan. Overall, he was a fairly handsome man, though perhaps more ruggedly handsome than in the traditional sense.

Pretty much drowning out everything else his parents were saying, Clark looked down at the paper in his hands. It was a permission slip for his school's football team, something he'd been wanting to do for quite some time now.

'Now or never.' Clark thought to himself before he took a deep breath and stood up.

Like all other times he'd asked before, this would turn out to be a disappointing morning for the one known as Clark Kent.

[ A Little Later - Smallville High ]

"So, anyone ask you to the dance?" Came the voice of a young man.

The young man had dark skin, a short haircut, and dark brown eyes. He stood at about 5'7" - 5-8", and had a bit of a stocky build.

His name was Pete Ross.

"Not yet." Was the reply of his female companion.

Said female had chin length blonde hair, cute pink lips, thin eyebrows, and green eyes. Her bust was fairly average in size, about b-cup. Overall she was definitely an attractive girl, but for whatever reason, many people seemed to overlook her.

The girl was wearing a red jacket, which was left open and had a black fur collar. She was also wearing an orange shirt underneath her coat, along with dark blue jeans, and a pair of black high heeled boots. Lastly, she was wearing a necklace and was carrying a bag that had a leopard print design.

This young woman's name was Chloe Sullivan.

"Maybe you and I could go together. I mean, not as a date date thing, more of a friend friend thing." Pete said with a smile as he looked at Chloe, seeing as he didn't have a date yet either.

Before Chloe could respond, their conversation was interrupted when Clark came up behind them and said "Hi guys."

Turning around in surprise, Chloe said "Wha- Uh... Didn't you just- Weren't you-?" 

"I took a shortcut." Clark said, quickly coming up with a lie. He didn't necessarily like having to hide his powers from his closest friends, but he had to make sure his secret stayed protected.

"Through what, a black hole?" Chloe asked incredulously as she stared at Clark. What kind of shortcut could've have gotten him here THAT fast? 

Hearing the rumbling of an engine, the three friends looked at each other before walking to the parking lot. Seeing the nice car that was pulling up, they all smiled, with Chloe quickly turning around and discretely pulling out a small mirror, trying to make sure she looked alright.

The car was a cherry red 2001 Mustang GT, with tinted windows, and a black stripe on each side.

Once the car was finally parked, the driver turned it off and slowly stepped out, allowing them all to see the final member of their little quartet of friends.

The driver was a male who was taller than all of them, standing at 6'5", and had rich caramel skin, with sharp golden-brown eyes. He had long hair that was neatly twisted, and reached a little past his shoulders. 

He was wearing a black bomber jacket, with a long sleeved red henley underneath it. He also had on black jeans, and a pair of red sneakers that had black laces and soles. Lastly, he had on a black backpack, a pair of black headphones that had a gold X on each side, and a black ring on his left index finger, which had a small gold X engraved on it.

This was, of course, none other than Jeremiah. 

He'd been on Earth for over a decade now. He could have easily left the same day he woke up on this planet if he'd wanted to, but decided it would be best if he waited until he regained all, or at least most of his strength, something he was making very good progress with.

Since he didn't lose much of his magic or other abilities when his age was regressed, it allowed him to mostly focus on getting all of his physical abilities back up to what they used to be. That said, he definitely didn't just ignore training his magic and other powers/abilities.

From a purely physical standpoint, he was probably around half as powerful as he used to be, maybe a little less. The gravity on his home planet was about 30X that of Earth's, so he made the gravity in his training rooms double that. This was the only real way to get back to, and surpass, his old level as soon as possible.

Of course if he wanted to, he could always just augment himself with magic or something, but he didn't want to do that all the time. That would be too easy, and he would never allow himself to do something that could result in him becoming even a little complacent. He couldn't afford to with some of the enemies he has.

Shaking his head and letting out a quiet sigh, Jeremiah walked over to the three teenagers who were waiting for him. After locking his doors of course.

Not that anyone would even be able to get into it anyway. 

"Morning." Jeremiah said as he walked up and bumped fists with Pete and Clark, after taking off his headphones and resting them on his neck.

After the two guys returned the greeting, they started talking about joining the football team, which Jeremiah drowned out as he looked down at the only female of the group.

"Hey Chloe." Chloe heard Jeremiah say. Looking up at him, she felt her face heat up as he stared down at her with a small smile, and those beautiful eyes of his.

Just how could someone be so attractive?

"Hey." Chloe managed to get out after clearing her throat. She mentally patted herself on the back for not stuttering.

"We should get to class." Jeremiah said as he rubbed the top of her head, before turning and walking toward the school, helping Clark up off the ground as he went. 

Releasing a deep, calming breath, Chloe followed after him.

Nearing their homeroom, Jeremiah raised an eyebrow at the aura he sensed from the other side of the school. 

'Hmm... Pretty weak. Could be interesting though.' Jeremiah thought to himself as he went to his seat at the back of the class.

[ A Few Days Later ]

A crowd could be seen gathered around the entrance to a workshop/garage, which was barricaded by the sheriff, as a man was rolled out on a stretcher by paramedics.

Among the crowd were two familiar faces.

"That's the third guy this week." Pete said with a frown as he watched the stretcher get rolled into the back of the ambulance.

"I know, and they're all former jocks." Chloe said while taking a few pictures with her camera.

Randomly looking over some of the other people in the crowd, Pete's eyes fell on one guy who looked a little too shifty for his tastes.

Tapping Chloe on the shoulder and successfully getting her attention, Pete asked "Who's the weirdo?"

"I don't know. Let's find out." Chloe said before raising her camera and quickly taking a photo of the guy.

[A Few Hours Later ]

"His name's Jeremy Creek. This is a picture of him twelve years ago," Chloe began as she pointed to a black and white photo of a young man, before pointing to another photo on the computer and continuing "this is one I took a couple hours ago."

"That's impossible. He'd be like twenty-six today. It must be a kid who looks like him." Clark said as he sat down on a table.

"My money was on the evil twin theory, until we looked into missing persons." Pete said, motioning to Chloe with his hands.

"Jeremy disappeared from the state infirmary a few days ago, where he'd been in a coma for twelve years. They say he suffered from massive electrolyte imbalance." Chloe said as she walked over to Clark and handed him a sheet of paper.

"That's why he hasn't aged a day." Pete said as he walked over and pointed at the notes on the paper.

"So you're telling me he just woke up?" Clark asked them with a raised eyebrow.

"Well no, there was a huge electrical storm, and the hospital's generator went down. When it came back on, Jeremy was gone." Chloe said as she sat down in a chair at the table Clark was sitting on.

"The electricity must have charged him up like a battery." Pete said.

"And now he's back in Smallville, putting jocks into comas. Why?" Clark asked with his arms folded.

"Because twelve years ago today, the football team chose Jeremy Creek as the scarecrow." Pete said, staring off into space for some reason.

"I don't know guys... This all seems pretty farfetched." Clark said skeptically, seemingly ignoring the fact that he himself was an alien with superpowers.

"What do you think, Jeremiah?" Clark asked Jeremiah, who'd just been relaxing at a nearby table while reading a book the entire time.

His reason for asking was simple. Jeremiah was easily the smartest out of their group, out of the entire school actually, having literally gotten perfect scores on every single test (and regular assignments) since elementary school, no matter what subject. It was amazing to say the least.

For Jeremiah, it really wasn't anything special. His home planet was thousands, or maybe even hundreds of thousands of years more advanced than Earth, and even there he was widely regarded and revered as their brightest mind.

"Hmm well, it's a wacky world we live in Clark, and an even more wacky town. You may have never seen something like this in person, but that doesn't make it any less real." Jeremiah as he briefly looked up at them from his seat with a small smile, before going back to his book.

Earth had some pretty good literature.

"Exactly. Take a look at this." Chloe said as she handed Clark a newspaper article.

"Comatose boy found in field, twenty yards from meteor strike..." Clark read aloud.

"The explosion from the blast must've changed him somehow." Chloe said as she stood up from her seat.

"I don't know, it still seems pretty out there to me." Clark said as he held the article in front of his face and read it again.

"I think you should show him." Pete said after tapping Chloe on the shoulder. Looking over at Jeremiah, Chloe saw him give her a small nod.

"Show me what?" Clark asked as he looked between his friends with confusion.

[ A Few Minutes Later ]

"It started out as a scrapbook, and just kinda mutated." Chloe said as the four of them walked into a rather small room.

"What is all this?" Clark asked with surprise as he looked at all of the pictures and newspaper articles that were put up on a wall.

"I call it the Wall of Weird." Chloe began as she walked up to the wall with a smile and her arms spread out wide. "It's every strange, bizarre, and unexplained event that's happened in Smallville since the meteor shower. That's when it all began. The town went schizo. So what do you think?" Chloe finished with a smile.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Clark asked as he walked past Chloe, who frowned and was about to say something until Jeremiah interjected.

"Hold on now, Clark. I'm pretty sure even you don't just go around telling people everything about yourself, even your closest friends. Don't be so hypocrytical." Jeremiah said as he leaned against a wall near the door, nodding at Chloe as she shot him a grateful look.

Getting closer to the wall, Clark continued looking around until his eyes widened when they fell on a magazine cover that had a picture of a young Lana Lang.

"Lana? It's all my fault..." Clark whispered to himself, feeling his guilt reach new levels. Turning around, he quickly walked past his friends and out of the room, much to the confusion of Pete and Chloe.

Watching him go, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh.

'That boy... I guess he finally found out that he's an alien.' Jeremiah thought to himself. 

Jeremiah had already known for a long time now that Clark wasn't human. The moment Clark's ship had entered Earth's atmosphere on the day of the meteor shower, Cortana had already sensed it and informed her master about it. He had been surprised to find that the ship was made with Kryptonian technology, making him and Cortana wonder if something happened to the planet. 

Them sensing Clark was actually part of the reason he moved to Smallville.

"I'll go after him." Pete said to Jeremiah and Chloe, before he walked out of the room.

"So, any plans for the dance?" Jeremiah asked as he glanced over at Chloe, surprising her with the unexpected question.

"Y- yeah. Pete asked me a few days ago." Chloe answered, feeling her face heat up as Jeremiah stared at her. 

"It's just as friends though." She quickly added, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. 

Humming, Jeremiah continued to stare at Chloe for a little bit before finally looking away, with Chloe releasing a sigh of relief.

Clearing her throat, Chloe asked "What about you?"

"I think I'll find some other way to entertain myself." Jeremiah replied as he leaned his head back against the wall with his eyes closed. 

"I see..." Chloe said as she leaned against a wall with a small frown. She'd hoped to be able to get at least one dance with him.

Their conversation was interrupted when Pete came running back into the room.

"Something wrong, Pete?" Jeremiah asked, despite already knowing exactly what happened.

"It's Clark! Whitney and some of the other guys took him, and are gonna make him this year's scarecrow!" Pete exclaimed as quickly as he could.

"What? Why him?" Chloe asked as ahe stood up and started pacing around the small room.

"I don't know, as soon as I got outside, I saw them putting Clark in the back of Whitney's truck and driving away." Pete said.

"Calm down, both of you. I'll go get Clark." Jeremiah said as he pushed himself off the wall and opened his eyes.

"Alone?" Chloe asked as she and Pete turned to him.

"You two have a dance to get ready for, don't you?" Jeremiah asked rhetorically as he walked out of the room. 

Exiting the school, Jeremiah walked to the parking lot and got in his car and started it, before driving to where he could sense Clark's aura.

[ A Little While Later ]

With sweat running down his face, Clark struggled to breathe as Lana's necklace, which was made with meteor rock (AKA Kryptonite) hung around his neck. To this day, he still didn't understand why it always caused him so much pain. Even a small amount like this was enough to put him out of commission.

It didn't help that he was strung up in the middle of a cornfield like a scarecrow.

"It never changes." Clark heard a male voice say.

"Help me." Clark said as he weakly turned his head to the speaker.

"It hurts doesn't it?" The speaker said as he walked closer, allowing Clark to get a better look at his face.

"*Pant* You're Jeremy." Clark said with recognition.

"I thought if I punished them it would stop... But it never stops."Jeremy said before he turned away from Clark, and slowly began walking away.

"Wait." Clark said, getting Jeremy to stop and look back at him. "Where are you going?" 

"To the homecoming dance. I never made it to mine." Jeremy replied.

"Get me down. Please." Clark struggled to say, the pain from the meteor rock becoming almost unbearable.

"You're safer here." Jeremy said with a smirk, before he turned and walked away.

With all the strength he could muster at the moment, Clark tried desperately to break out of his restraints, only to fail. 

"Help me..." Clark said again, feeling all of his energy drain away.

Hearing some rustling, Clark looked up and was surprised to see Jeremiah.

"Jeremiah..." Clark said weakly, struggling to even hold his head up at this point.

Wordlessly walking around Clark, Jeremiah loosened all of the ropes that were holding him down. Once he was done, Clark fell to the ground, with Lana's necklace falling off of him in the process.

"You alright Clark?" Jeremiah asked once Clark stood up.

"Yeah, thanks." Clark said as he hopped over to his clothes and quickly ran off to go stop Jeremy.

Looking down at the ground, Jeremiah crouched down and picked up Lana's necklace.

Seeing a flashlight, and sensing who it was holding it, Jeremiah stood up and turned around. A few seconds later, he was standing face to face with Lex Luthor.

"Lex Luthor. You often wander cornfields at night?" Jeremiah asked sarcastically, ignoring the flashlight shining in his face.

"You know me, but it would seem that I can't say the same." Lex said as he looked at Jeremiah curiously. Lex definitely was not attracted to men in any way, but he couldn't deny how overwhelmingly handsome the man was.

"A friend of Clark's." Was all Jeremiah said.

"Clark? Was he out here? I could have sworn I heard his voice." Lex asked as he turned his flashlight to the wooden pole, seeing the ropes on it and the ground around it.

"You just missed him." Jeremiah said as he put his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"I see. What on Earth was he doing in the middle of a cornfield? If I'm not mistaken, tonight is the homecoming dance at Smallville High, right?" Lex asked as he looked back at Jeremiah.

"Just a little high school drama. Nothing major." Jeremiah said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"This is a little... Overboard for typical high school drama isn't it?" Lex asked with a raised eyebrow, gesturing to the wooden pole Clark was strung up on.

"Well, I suppose Smallville can be a strange place." Jeremiah said as he looked up at the beautiful night sky.

"Yes, it certainly does seem to have a number of oddities." Lex replied, thinking back to how his car looked after he was saved by Clark.

"Hm. Well, you have a good night, Lex." Jeremiah said as he turned around and walked away, giving a lazy wave over his shoulder.

Lex stared at Jeremiah until he was out of sight, before he turned and went his own way.

Smallville certainly had some interesting people.


	2. Bugs and Coaches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter covers episodes 1x02 and 1x03.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 2: Bugs and Coaches

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hmm' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change  
_______________________________

[ Next Morning ]

It was the morning after homecoming, and we could now find one Chloe Sullivan preparing to eat breakfast with her dad.

Thinking back to last night, Chloe couldn't help but frown a bit. She was still pretty sad that she'd been unable to get a dance with Jeremiah. Now she just hoped that maybe he'd want to take her to the spring formal.

"Everything alright, Chloe?" She heard her dad, Gabe Sullivan, ask with concern in his voice as they sat down at the table. 

"I'm okay." Chloe said with a smile to ease his worries. Getting a smile from her dad in return, the two of them began digging into their breakfast. It was nothing fancy, just bacon, eggs, hash browns, and orange juice.

A few minutes later, Chloe jumped a bit in surprise when her cell phone started ringing, given how early it was. Wiping her hands with a paper towel, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, growing even more surprised when she saw who was calling.

Quickly pressing the answer button, Chloe put the phone up to her ear and said "Hello?"

"Hey, Chloe. I'm about to go get some breakfast, and figured I'd invite you. Or have you already eaten?" Came the voice of Jeremiah from the other side of the phone.

"Umm... Nope! Just had a quick snack." Chloe said, looking down at her half finished breakfast. No way she was gonna pass up this chance.

"Alright then. I'll be there soon." She heard Jeremiah say before he hung up.

"You certainly look happy." Mr. Sullivan said as he looked at his daughter with a smile.

"That was Jeremiah. He invited me to breakfast." Chloe said with a bright smile as she stood up.

"Jeremiah? Wow, it's been a while since I've seen him. Such a good young man." Her dad said with surprise. Everyone in Smallville knew who Jeremiah was. He was who many parents secretly -and some not so secretly- wanted their daughters to marry.

"Anyway, I need to go get ready." Chloe said as she put her plate in the fridge, before quickly running upstairs.

About fifteen minutes later, Chloe was sitting in the living room, and perked up when she heard the doorbell ring. Going to the door and opening it, she smiled with a blush as she saw Jeremiah standing there.

Jeremiah was wearing a navy blue long sleeved button up, with black jeans, and a pair of brown suede desert boots. Over his shirt, he had on a black leather jacket. He was also wearing a black scarf that was loosely tied, a black beanie, a gold necklace with a small pendant that looked like a compass star, and a black ring that had a small gold X on it was on his left index finger.

"Good morning." Jeremiah said with a small smile as he looked down at Chloe.

Chloe was wearing a burnt orange sweater, with a long black skirt that stopped a little above her ankles, and a pair of ankle high black boots. She also had an orange flower in her hair on the right side, and had an orange purse.

"You look nice." Jeremiah said as he looked Chloe up and down, making her smile more. He didn't mind that she wasn't showing any skin, especially since it was only about 50° (fahrenheit) this morning. Not really cold, but still chilly enough to cover up.

"Thanks. You do too. Look nice, I mean." Chloe replied with her blush growing as she looked up at Jeremiah.

"I do try. You ready to go?" Jeremiah asked, getting a nod from Chloe as she walked outside, closing the door behind her.

As they walked off the porch together, Chloe was confused when she looked at the street and didn't see Jeremiah's car.

"Did you walk here?" Chloe asked as she looked up at Jeremiah.

"No. Why do you ask?" Jeremiah replied with his own question, even though he already knew why.

"I don't see your car anywhere." Chloe said as she looked around for his Mustang. She did see a car parked directly in front of her house, but she was sure it wasn't his.

"I went with something different today." Jeremiah said as he walked to the only car parked in front of her house, making Chloe stop in her tracks as she looked between him and the car in shock and surprise.

The car was a black 2001 BMW 325i, with dark tinted windows.

"Wait a minute. THIS is yours?" Chloe asked incredulously as she stared at Jeremiah. What on Earth was a high schooler doing with a car like this?

"Yes, it's mine." Jeremiah said with a bit of amusement as he walked to the passenger door and opened it for Chloe.

"I don't understand... How...?" Chloe trailed off in confusion while walking to the car.

Getting closer, she could now see the interior of the car. The seats were made with leather, and were a nice mix of black and dark blue. The dashboard, floor, and roof were also black, and were lined with dark blue stitching.

"After you." Jeremiah said, holding the door open for Chloe. 

Although still confused, Chloe walked forward and got in the car, letting out a relaxed sigh at how comfortable the seats were.

Closing the door for her, Jeremiah walked around to the driver side and got in the car. After starting the car, Jeremiah turned on the heat, including the heated seats, knowing that Chloe was a little cold.

Glancing over at Chloe, Jeremiah smiled a bit at how relaxed she looked, before he pulled off.

About twenty minutes later, Jeremiah brought the car to a slow stop as they arrived at their destination, before putting it into park and turning it off.

Stepping out of the car, Jeremiah walked around to Chloe's side and opened hers for her. 

"This place is a personal favorite of mine." Jeremiah said to Chloe as she stepped out of the car and looked at the restaurant he brought her to, a place called 'Missy's'.

"Have you ever brought anyone else?" Chloe asked curiously as she turned her gaze to him.

"You're the first." Jeremiah said as he turned to Chloe with a small smile and held out his right hand to her, slightly confusing her. Sighing quietly, Jeremiah reached down and grabbed Chloe's hand, getting her to widen her eyes as she looked down at their intertwined hands. 

Blushing lightly with a smile, Chloe decided to just roll with it as they walked forward. Once they entered, Chloe basked in the warm and cozy feeling of the place. The lights were set at just the right amount of brightness, there was soft music playing, and there were pleasant smells being carried through the air.

"This place is beautiful." Chloe said as she looked around the restaurant with a soft smile, unconsciously tightening her grip on Jeremiah's hand.

"Welcome back! Would you like your usual table?" A very pretty and bubbly waitress with long and wavy light brown hair, gray eyes, cute freckles, and red glasses that had rectangular frames asked with a bright smile as she approached the duo. Chloe wasn't at all surprised when she saw the waitress keep glancing at Jeremiah with a blush.

Receiving a nod, the waitress led them to a table that was in a corner, not too far from the big windows at the front of the restaurant. It gave a good view of outside, while also making it a little a hard for anyone to see them from outside unless they were really looking.

"What can I get for you?" The waitress asked once they were seated as she pulled out a pen and notepad and looked at Chloe, who swore she could see some jealousy in those eyes, despite the cheery smile.

"Just an omelet and coffee is fine." Chloe said, not really needing more than that due to what she ate earlier.

"Got it! It should be ready in a jiffy." The waitress said, taking one last glance at Jeremiah before walking away.

"Umm isn't she gonna take your order?" Chloe asked with confusion as she looked at Jeremiah.

"It's not necessary." Jeremiah said as he took off his jacket, scarf, and hat, putting them on the back of his seat.

"Wow. You must really come here often." Chloe said as she rested her chin in her right palm, gazing at Jeremiah curiously. 

"A few days out of every week, for about a year now." Jeremiah replied, much to Chloe's surprise. 

"Really? And you're telling me that somehow none of us ever knew about this?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow, referring to Clark, Pete, and herself. 

"I can't imagine that me talking about where I eat breakfast would be that interesting." Jeremiah said with a bit of amusement as he leaned back in his seat.

"Well, it's not just about where you eat breakfast. I mean, you rarely talk about yourself." Chloe said, her curiosity rising as she stared into Jeremiah's eyes, almost getting lost in them.

"Ever the reporter." Jeremiah said before he turned his head, seeing the waitress bringing them their orders. 

"Here you go! An omelet and coffe for you," The waitress began as she put Chloe's order on the table in front of her, before turning to Jeremiah and continuing "and the usual for you. Hope you enjoy~." She finished with a wink as she put his order on the table in front him, bending forward more than she needed to, flashing him a view of her cleavage.

This girl was starting to tick Chloe off.

"Thank you, Annie." Jeremiah said to the girl as he gave her a small smile, getting a large one in return from her, before she turned and walked away with an extra sway in her hips.

"So... You two are friends?" Chloe asked while idly stirring her coffee. She wasn't jealous.

She wasn't!

"I guess you could say that. She's the owner's daughter." Jeremiah said as he sipped some tea. 

"I see... So, what's that?" Chloe asked as she gestured with her head to Jeremiah's food, trying to get off of the subject of Annie. Something Jeremiah found a little amusing, though he didn't show it.

"It's an apple and goat cheese crepe." Jeremiah replied as he put his cup down and took a bite of the crepe. More often than not, this was what he got whenever he came here.

"You know, I've heard about those multiple times, but have never actually gotten to taste one." Chloe said after taking a bite of her omelet, loving the taste of it.

"Feel free to taste mine." Jeremiah said as he held the crepe out to Chloe.

"You're gonna feed it to me?" Chloe asked, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"I don't see why not." Jeremiah said simply as he held it out for her to bite. Swallowing, Chloe slowly inched her head forward and took a bite out of the offered food. 

"Oh God, that's good." Chloe said with a blissful expression, practically moaning at the taste. She almost went in for a second bite, but managed to restrain herself.

"So, how was the dance?" Jeremiah asked as Chloe drew her head back, now eating her omelet again.

"It was... Okay, I guess. I mean, I had fun, but there was just something missing." Chloe said with a sigh.

'Or rather, someone.' Chloe thought to herself, glancing up at Jeremiah.

"I see. Sorry it couldn't be perfect." Jeremiah said as he finished his tea. 

"It's fine. It was just homecoming after all. I am curious though, what did you end up doing, seeing as you didn't go to the dance?" Chloe asked as she looked at Jeremiah while taking a bite of her now mostly finished omelet.

"Nothing fun, believe me. I had some work to take care of, which wasn't very interesting. Anyway, you about ready to go?" Jeremiah asked as he looked down at their plates, both of them having finished what they ordered.

"Sure." Chloe said, getting a nod from Jeremiah. Standing up and putting his things back on, Jeremiah took his wallet out of his back pocket, and pulled out a $50 bill, which he put down on the table.

"The food costs that much?" Chloe asked with surprise.

"You should be generous when you can." Was all Jeremiah said as he held his hand out to her, which she grabbed on her own this time, and led her out of the restaurant. 

"Do you want me to take you home, or is there somewhere else you'd like to go?" Jeremiah asked once they got in the car.

"Well, there was this new movie I wanted to see." Chloe said with a smile as she looked at Jeremiah, who nodded as he started the car.

"Let's go then." Jeremiah said as they pulled off.

From there, the two spent the rest of the day together, doing a number of different fun and interesting things.

[ Monday - Smallville High ]

"Where were you before the game on Saturday?" Came a soft sounding female voice.

The owner of the voice was a very pretty girl that had lightly tanned skin, long dark brown hair that went past her shoulders, and green eyes. She stood at 5'3", and had a chest that was maybe a B-cup, but a little smaller than Chloe's.

This girl was Lana Lang.

"*Sigh* Can we talk about this later?" Replied a male voice.

The guy had somewhat short blonde hair that was parted in the middle, with blue eyes, and stood at about 5'10. Notably, he was wearing a varsity jacket.

This was Lana's boyfriend, Whitney Fordman.

"It's a simple question, Whitney." Lana said as she closed his locker.

With a sigh, Whitney replied "I was warming up."

"So you're saying you didn't grab Clark and hang him up in a field?" Lana asked, looking right into Whitney's eyes.

"Lana, it was just a prank." Whitney tried to defend himself, though he knew he messed up.

Lana just closed her eyes and shook her head with a sigh, upset that not only did her boyfriend go out of his way to hurt someone, he even had the nerve to try to lie to her face about it.

"Can I please have my necklace back?" Lana asked as she opened her eyes and looked at Whitney, not really even wanting to be around him right now.

"....I lost it." Whitney said with some guilt, knowing how much that necklace meant to her.

"Were you planning on telling me? Or was that a prank too?" Lana asked with a hurt expression, before she turned and walked off, thoroughly upset with her boyfriend.

Walking down the hall, Lana was about to go downstairs, until she heard someone call her name, breaking her out of her thoughts. Turning, she saw it was Greg Arkin, who seemed to have adopted a new look and personality over the past weekend. He'd creeped her out a little with the way he was talking to her at the farmer's market yesterday.

"Lana, hey. I thought you'd forgotten. I've been waiting for almost an hour." Greg said, getting Lana to look at him with confusion.

"You remember, the English paper?" Greg reminded her, making her gain a look of realization.

"Sorry, Greg. Something really important came up. Can we do it some other time?" Lana asked, intending to go see Clark and apologize for what Whitney did to him. Turning around, Lana was about to walk away, only for her arm to be roughly grabbed.

"Are you blowing me off for your boyfriend?" Greg asked while holding her arm.

"I'm not blowing you off, I need to see Clark." Lana said, feeling her skin crawl at the way Greg looked at her, as if she was an object that belonged to him.

"Kent? So you'd rather spend time with him. Is he more important than me?" Greg asked with a frown as his grip on Lana's arm tightened, making her wince. 

"Let the girl go." Came a deep, silky smooth voice that anyone would recognize. Looking to the side, Lana and Greg saw none other than Jeremiah standing there.

"What do you want?" Greg asked with a glare, while Lana just stared at Jeremiah with surprise written all over her face. It had been years since he last talked to her, so she was surprised that he would come to her aid.

Seeing the way Greg's body tensed like he was preparing for a fight, Jeremiah almost cracked a smile. Apparently this boy thought he was unbeatable thanks to his new powers.

"I want you to let the girl go." Jeremiah said again, calmly, gesturing to Greg's hand that was still holding Lana's arm.

"Hmph. I'll be seeing you later, Lana." Greg said as he let go of her arm and walked away, sending one last glare at Jeremiah, who ignored it with a blank face, not even glancing his way.

"Thanks..." Lana said as she looked up at Jeremiah, before she winced and hissed in pain when she rubbed her arm. There was actually a faint handprint left behind from how tightly Greg had been gripping her.

Reaching inside of his jacket, Jeremiah pulled out a small green jar.

"Hold out your arm." Lana heard Jeremiah say. Still surprised that he was even talking to her, Lana absently did as he said. 

Taking the top off of the small jar, Jeremiah dipped two fingers inside, before he rubbed them all over her forearm, ignoring how Lana stared at him the whole time.

Once he finished, Jeremiah pulled his hand back, and screwed the top back on the small jar.

Rubbing her arm, Lana was surprised to find that not only was the pain completely gone, but even the handprint had vanished.

"Here." Jeremiah said as he reached out and gently grabbed Lana's hand, before he placed the small jar in her open palm.

With that finished, Jeremiah walked past Lana, and started walking downstairs. 

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Lana quickly ran down the stairs to catch up with him.

"Thanks, really. I don't know what has gotten in to Greg recently." Lana said once she caught up with Jeremiah, pushing down her nervousness at speaking to him after so long.

"Well, he never was very stable. Anyway, don't worry about him. I'm sure he'll be dealt with soon." Jeremiah said as he walked with his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

"What do you-"

"I believe you had somewhere you needed to be, right?" Jeremiah asked as he turned his head and looked down at Lana with a raised eyebrow, with Lana's eyes widening slightly as she had nearly forgotten that she needed to go see Clark.

"You're right, I can't believe I almost forgot. See you later." Lana said with a smile, before she started walking away.

"Lana." Jeremiah called her, getting her to stop walking and turn around.

"Don't lose that jar. It might come in handy someday." Jeremiah said vaguely, getting Lana to look down at the small jar in her hand with a curious look, before she looked back up at him and nodded. 

Once Lana walked away, Jeremiah gained a small frown as he felt Greg's aura upstairs. He'd read the boy's mind, and saw that he'd already killed his own mother. He knew that kryptonite did sometimes have negative effects on people's minds, so it wasn't totally his fault, but that wasn't exactly something that could just be let go. It was clear that his newfound powers were making him a slave to his instincts.

Either way, it was best to deal with this problem soon, before he ended up hurting or killing someone else.

[ Later ]

Greg Larkin was upset. No, scratch that. He was more than upset. He was angry.

Whitney.

Clark.

Jeremiah.

All of them were pissing him off. Why couldn't any of them see that Lana was HIS? Hell, why couldn't Lana herself understand that? He was clearly the most dominant male around now. Soon, Lana would come to realize that. He'd make sure of it.

With his eyes set on the stable Lana kept her horse in, Greg walked forward with confidence. He'd seen both her and Whitney go inside, meaning he could get take care of two birds with one stone.

As he was walking forward, Greg came to a stop when he saw someone standing in his path.

"You again." Greg said with a glare.

Silently, Jeremiah just stood with his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he stared at Greg.

"Too scared to even speak? Whatever, I've got more important things to deal with than you." Greg said as he walked forward and tried to go around Jeremiah, only for him to step in his path again.

"You know what? Screw it." Greg practically snarled as he cocked his fist back, and threw a punch at Jeremiah's chest with all of his newly acquired strength, enough to lift around 30X his own weight.

The hit connected.

Jeremiah didn't even twitch.

Deciding to not waste any more time, Jeremiah removed his right hand from his pocket and grasped Greg's outstretched arm.

"Sleep." Jeremiah commanded, and that was all it took. As Greg lost consciousness, the only thing keeping him from fully falling to the ground was Jeremiah still holding his arm. 

Throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, Jeremiah blurred out of sight.

While the boy would be punished, Jeremiah would fix his mind first.

Not even a minute after Jeremiah was gone, Clark came super speeding into sight. Slowing down as he ran up to the barn, Clark was confused when he saw no sign of Greg.

"Clark? Is something wrong?" Lana asked with concern as she turned and saw him standing there with a troubled look on his face.

"It's Greg. Has he been here at all?" Clark asked, wanting to make sure.

"He shouldn't have been. I told him to stay away from Lana." Whitney said with a frown.

"Did something happen?" Lana asked with worry in her tone, fully aware of just how creepy Greg has been recently.

"Just... Make sure you stay away from him. He isn't safe." Clark said, before he turned around and quickly walked away. He would've explained more, but he didn't want her to be walking around in fear of someone stalking her.

Once he was out of sight, Clark looked around before he super sped away.

He needed to find Greg.

[ Later That Night ]

"I just don't get it. I mean, we saw the videos Greg had of Lana, and how he killed his mom, but for some reason he hasn't shown himself at all since school today. I ran all over town looking for him, but..." Clark trailed off with a troubled frown as he sat at the kitchen table.

"He has to turn up at some point. When he does, I'm sure you'll catch him. Until then, rest. Like you said, you've been running for hours all over town looking for him." Jonathon said as he reached over and placed his hand on Clark's shoulder.

"Your father is right, Clark." Martha said with a nod.

The family's conversation was interrupted when they heard someone knocking on the kitchen door.

"Who could that be?" Jonathon asked, mostly to himself, as he got up to answer the door.

Once he unlocked the door and opened it, Jonathon was surprised at who he saw.

"Well, I'll be." Jonathon said with a smile as he stuck his hand out.

"It's nice to see you, Jonathon." Jeremiah said with a small smile as he shook Jonathon's hand.

"Come on in." Jonathon said as he stepped to the side, making room for Jeremiah.

Walking inside, Jeremiah was greeted to the surprised faces of Clark and Martha. 

"It's so good to see you." Martha said with a smile as she walked over and hugged him.

"You too, Martha." Jeremiah said as they broke apart. 

"What's up, Jeremiah?" Clark asked as he looked at him curiously. It wasn't necessarily rare for Jeremiah to come over, but it wasn't often either.

"I've got something for you." Jeremiah said as he walked over to where Clark was sitting.

Reaching into one of his pockets, Jeremiah pulled out a small box and put it down on the table in front of Clark, before he sat down in one of the chairs.

Exchanging curious looks with his parents, Clark grabbed the box off of the table and opened it. When he saw what was inside, Clark instinctively flinched back and dropped the box on the table.

It was something Jeremiah expected, but it still amused him a bit.

"Everything alright, Clark?" Jonathon asked as he and Martha walked over to see what was in the box.

Clark didn't answer. He was busy frowning in confusion while staring intensely at the item in the box, which was none other than Lana's necklace.

Hesitantly reaching out with one of his hands to the necklace, Clark was shocked and surprised beyond belief when he didn't feel the pain that usually came from being near it. Even touching it directly wasn't causing any negative effects. 

"You can give that back to Lana. I'm sure she'll appreciate it." Jeremiah said as he stood up and put his hands in his pockets, before he started walking to the door.

"You're leaving already? Dinner will be ready soon, and you know you're more than welcome to stay." Martha said with a kind smile, with Jonathon nodding beside her.

"I appreciate the offer, Martha, but I've gotta get going. I have a busy night ahead of me. I just wanted to stop by to give that to Clark." Jeremiah said as he opened the door. Turning his head, Jeremiah nodded to Clark, Jonathon, and Martha, before he went outside, closing the door behind him.

"Guys." Clark said once Jeremiah was gone, finally breaking out of his stupor.

"What is it, Clark?" Jonathon asked, while Martha attended to the food cooking on the stove.

"I don't know how, but Lana's necklace... It's not making me sick like it usually would." Clark said, getting both of his parents to look at him in surprise.

"Any idea why?" Martha asked, walking over to Clark.

"I don't know. I mean, the last time I was near it, it still made me sick, just like any other meteor rock." Clark said, picking up the necklace and staring at it.

The mysteries in this town just seemed to keep coming.

[ Elsewhere - A Little Later ]

Stepping out of the shower, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh as he as he heated up his body with magic, drying himself off. 

Exiting the bathroom, Jeremiah walked into his large bedroom (they were connected), coming to a stop in front of a full body mirror.

With a thought, the small gold X on Jeremiah's black ring glowed, making him become covered in a set of clothes.

He was now wearing a tight, long sleeved black turtleneck, along with a black trench coat that had a hood. He was also wearing black combat pants, and a pair of black combat boots that stopped a few inches below his knees, which his pants were tucked into. Lastly, he was wearing a black utility belt, a pair of black, high tech gauntlets, and a white mask that completely covered his face, and had a small purple lightning bolt over the right eye, with a thin red line where the mouth would be (Hei's mask from Darker Than Black).

Stepping back, Jeremiah traced his hand in a circle in front of him, making a portal open. After stepping through, Jeremiah was now standing outside, with the portal closing behind him.

It was time to go to work.

[ One Week Later ]

"Football: Sport or Abuse?" Clark read the school newspaper out loud as he walked up a set of stairs with Chloe and Pete.

"So, what do you think?" Chloe asked with a smile, while holding a cup of coffee in her right hand.

"I think you need to seriously decrease your cappuccino dependency." Clark replied, getting a laugh out of Chloe.

"Pete thinks I'm being too hard on Coach Walt." Chloe said.

"I mean, the man coached my dad, all my brothers... He used to come over and watch the super bowl." Pete said with a shrug.

"While I'm touched by that hallmark moment, you don't get points for subtlety in journalism. I've already started getting hate mail." Chloe said as they reached the top of the stairs, now walking through the outside basketball courts.

"You seem very happy about that. Why?" Clark asked with some confusion.

"Because it means I'm hitting a nerve. Besides, between the abysmal sentence structure, and generous use of obscenities, I've got a pretty good idea of who's been sending it." Chloe said with a smile, before taking a sip of her coffee.

"If you think my teammates are reading The Torch, you're giving them way too much credit." Pete said as he placed a hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"Don't you even care about this?" Came the voice of Lana not too far away from them, instantly drawing Clark's attention. Looking over to where the cheerleaders were, he saw that she seemed to be upset with Whitney about something.

"I just don't see what the big deal is." Whitney said with a smile and shrug.

"You don't see what the big deal is? I think it's a big deal." Lana said as she shook her head, before walking away from Whitney.

"Ooh, there's something you don't see everyday. A pompom meltdown." Chloe said jokingly as Lana walked past them, getting a chuckle out of Pete.

"Oh! Here they come. Pete, I need a picture of the cheating jockstraps." Chloe said as Pete grabbed his camera, watching as the football players and cheerleaders gathered around Coach Walls.

Coach Walt was an overweight man with short, brown hair that had a few gray streaks, a somewhat big nose, a short neck, and dark green eyes.

"Look, I don't wanna hear any rumors or false accusations going around." Walt said to the players and cheerleaders.

"Any idea how they got that midterm, Chloe?" Clark asked as he turned his head to Chloe.

"Still a mystery, but I'm working on it." Chloe said as she held up het camera, taking a few photos.

"Hey, what's she doing?" One of the players asked.

Turning around, the player threw a football at Chloe, which would have hit her square in the face had it not been for Clark quickly reaching out and grabbing it.

"Nice catch." Pete said with a smile.

"One of your teammates tries to kill me, and all you can say is 'nice catch'?" Chloe asked with a frown, before she turned around and walked away, with Pete following after her.

Cocking his arm back, Clark lightly (for him) threw the ball back to the guy who'd thrown it at Chloe, nearly making him lose his breath when he caught it.

Turning around, Clark quickly caught up to Pete and Chloe, with Coach Walt staring at him with intrigue as he left.

A few minutes later, Clark and Pete were walking down one of the hallways in the school, when they saw Jeremiah standing in front of a vending machine.

Walking up to him, Pete patted him on the back, while Clark nodded at him with a smile.

"Hey, Kent." Clark heard. Looking over, he saw Coach Walt approaching them (more specifically, him).

"I saw your arm out there. Your technique was lousy, but you've got a lot of power." Walt said, looking Clark up and down.

"Thanks." Clark said with a smile.

"So why aren't you on our team?" Walt asked.

"Well, my dad needs me on the farm." Clark said with his smile lessening a bit. Behind him, Jeremiah collected his snacks from the vending machine, before he put them in his backpack. Now leaning against the vending machine, Jeremiah observed the interaction between Clark and Walt.

Personally, Jeremiah didn't like the man. Both his personality and aura were rotten. He'd dealt with much worse people than him before though.

"Well your school needs you on the field. We've got a big game Friday night, and we're short players. Look, I know your dad would understand." Walt said, not one to give up that easily.

"He's kind of stubborn." Clark replied, recalling how many times he had asked his dad to let him play football, or any sport really, only to be denied due to his powers.

"Yeah, I remember. Jonathon Kent was one of the best athletes I ever coached. A lot of God given talent. It's in your genes Kent." Walt said with a 'friendly' smile, trying to appeal to Clark's respect for his father.

"Actually, I'm adopted." Clark said, getting a smile from Pete, and a small one from Jeremiah, who sensed Walt's anger and annoyance starting to rise.

"Look, I'm giving you a chance to be part of something special. A part of history. Now I've seen you stare at your father's picture in that trophy case. Don't tell me you don't wanna be a part of this." Walt said with gritted teeth, trying to not raise his voice right now. It wouldn't do any good to scare Kent away before he got him to agree to join the team.

"Why don't you suit up? I mean, look at Ross. He doesn't have a lick of natural talent, but he's got a truckload of heart." Walt said as he patted Pete on the chest.

"Thanks... I guess." Pete said, trying to ignore how backhanded that compliment was.

"Let me think about it." Clark said, wanting to get the coach off his back for now.

"Fordman! Get over here." Walt said, waving for Whitney, who was standing with Lana, to come to him.

"Hey, Clark." Lana said once she and Whitney reached them.

"Fordman, you're the team captain. How do you think Kent here would do on the field? I mean, considering our current predicament." Walt asked as he looked over at Whitney.

"He might do alright." Whitney said as he looked Clark up and down, not really wanting him on the team. He didn't like how Clark looked at Lana, and how friendly the two of them had been getting recently.

"He seems afraid." Coach Walt said.

"That's not the reason, is it, Clark?" Lana said, not liking what the coach was trying to do.

"It's my dad-"

"Kent, there comes a time when you gotta step outta your father's shadow, and be your own man. Now, what do you say?" Walt pressured as he walked closer to Clark, looking right into his eyes.

With a quiet sigh, Jeremiah pushed himself off the vending machine and started walking away. Such a predictable outcome was boring.

Before he left though, he glanced at Walt with his eyes dimly glowing, unseen by anyone.

Looking over at Lana, who had Whitney's arm wrapped around her shoulder, Clark made his decision.

"Count me in." Clark said with a smile.

"Alright, we'll see you at practice today, 3:00. Don't be late." Walt said as he poked Clark's chest before walking away.

Or, at least, he tried to. After taking only two steps, Walt slipped as if he was walking across ice, falling face first and sliding down the hallway, drawing shocked gasps and stares from all the staff and students that saw it.

"What the..." Clark said with his eyes wide.

Pete, Whitney, and even Lana, were unable to stop themselves from laughing at the sight (though Lana did at least try to hold it in).

Hearing the Walt's screams amongst all the laughter while walking away, Jeremiah gained a small smile.

Curses were always interesting.

[ After School ]

Lana was in her bedroom, folding her cheerleading outfit and putting it into a box, when there was knock on her door, getting her attention.

"Lana, you're home early. Was practice canceled?" Her aunt Nell asked as she opened the door.

Nell was a very pretty woman with brown hair that nearly reached her shoulders, and dark blue eyes. She stood a few inches taller than Lana, reaching about 5'5", maybe 5'6". Her breasts were C, maybe D-cup, and she had a nice ass.

"Sort of. I quit." Lana said with a smile as she finished folding her uniform.

"But you love being on the squad. What happened?" Nell asked as she walked into the room and around the bed. 

"I just think there's more to life than memorizing cheers, and shaking pompoms." Lana said with a shrug.

"You just decided this out of the blue?" Nell asked with confusion, since this wasn't making much sense to her at the moment.

"Some of the football players were caught cheating. Guys I know. I told Whitney how upset it made me, and he said it was no big deal, that people aren't perfect." Lana replied as she lost her smile and let out a sigh. Picking up the box off of the bed, she turned around and walked over to her closet, crouching as she put it down on the floor inside.

"Some people will do anything to win a game." Lana finished as she stood up and turned back to Nell.

"Well, you can't let a few bad apples ruin the experience for you. You're part of a team, you're making friends." Nell said with an encouraging smile as she sat down on the bed.

"Aunt Nell, I don't want to go back. I want to try different things, what's wrong with that?" Lana asked with a small frown.

"Nothing, it's just that you're on such a good track, I'd hate to see you give that up. I want you to be happy." Nell said softly.

"So what do you plan on doing with this newfound freedom?" Nell asked as Lana joined her on the bed.

"I thought I'd get a job, something part-time. Earn some extra money so I can go travel in the summer." Lana said, rather naively, with a smile.

"Well, I suppose I could always use some help around the shop." Nell said after staying silent for a bit. 

"Thanks, but I'm not looking for help. I wanna do this on my own." Lana said with determination, getting a small, forced smile from Nell.

"I see... Well, good luck. You have my support if you need it." Nell said as she stood up and started walking out of the room, only to stop at the door as she remembered something she'd been meaning to ask Lana.

"Hey, Lana." Nell began as she turned back to Lana.

"What's up?" Lana asked with a curious expression.

"Have- *Ahem* Have you talked to Jeremiah at all recently?" Nell asked with great interest, though she did her best to keep it from showing on her face, or in her voice.

"Actually, yeah. He talked to me last week. I was surprised." Lana said with a happy smile.

"Really? Do you think he'll be coming over soon?" Nell asked with her heartbeat picking up a bit.

"Um... Maybe? I'm not sure. It wasn't exactly a long conversation." Lana said a bit dejected, but mostly confused about why Nell was even asking her about this.

"I see..." Nell said with a small frown. 

"Is everything alright, Nell?" Lana asked with concern.

"Hm? Ah, yes. Well, I'll leave you to it then." Nell said before she turned around and quickly walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Nell's feelings for Jeremiah were... Complicated. She -to her shame- held a great amount of lust for him. With looks that only Adonis could compare to, combined with his intelligence, the way he carried himself, etc... Could she really be blamed? Besides, it's not like she was the only woman in town that felt that way.

'The things I would do to him...' Nell had thought to herself on many occasions, sometimes unable to hold back from pleasuring herself to the thought of it. Even now, she found herself biting her bottom lip while unconsciously rubbing her thighs together. It didn't help that she hadn't had sex in years.

On the other side of the coin, Jeremiah was the man she wanted Lana to marry in the future. She did recall Lana having a crush on him when they were younger, but wasn't sure if that was still the case. Sure, Lana was with Whitney now, but Nell doubted that relationship would go very far.

Letting out a slow, shaky sigh, Nell shook her head and walked to the bathroom, hoping that splashing some cold water on her face would help to calm her down.

[ Later That Night ]

"You guys, it doesn't make sense. Cars don't just spontaneously combust." Came the voice of Chloe as she walked with Clark and Pete.

"The cops said it was faulty wiring." Clark said with a shrug.

"I've already got my headline. 'Jockstrap Saves Principal From Burning Car'." Chloe said with a smile, referring to Clark saving Principal Kwan from his car that went up in flames.

"Will you lay off with jockstrap thing?" Pete asked while shaking his head as they walked into the beanery.

"I still can't believe Clark's been blinded by the Friday night lights." Chloe said as she looked at Clark.

"I joined a football team, Chloe, not a cult." Clark defended himself.

"Sure, next thing you know, I'm gonna be joining the pompom brigade." Chloe said jokingly.

"I hear there's a spot open." Lana said from behind Chloe as she walked out of one of the back rooms of the beanery, wearing a green apron over her clothes.

"Lana, what are you doing here?" Clark asked with surprise.

"Taking your order, I hope." Lana said as she walked between them while carrying a tray of drinks.

"What, is this like some sort of cheerleading, charity, be a waitress for a night sort of thing?" Chloe asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes it is. Except for the cheerleading and the charity. Tips are always appreciated." Lana said as she put the tray down on a table.

"So, you're a waitress for real?" Clark asked as he looked at Lana.

"Yup. Even got the nametag to prove it." Lana said, gesturing to the small nametag on the left side of her chest.

Looking around the shop, Chloe's eyes widened slightly when she saw Jeremiah sitting by himself -reading a book while drinking tea as usual- at a table towards the back, before she quickly walked over to join him.

"Don't I know you from somewhere?" Chloe with a faux curious expression once she reached his table.

"Nah, I've just got one of those faces." Jeremiah replied as he looked up from his book, easily able to play along.

"Well, how about I join you? I'm sure we can... get to know each other." Chloe asked, playfully flirting as she adopted an over the top sultry expression.

"By all means. A drink is always better with pleasant company, and who would I be to deny such a thing?" Jeremiah replied as he looked at Chloe with a small smile, making Chloe unable to hold back her smile anymore as she pulled out a seat across from him and sat down while taking off her coat.

"So, what's a fella like you doing alone in a place like this?" Chloe asked with a smile.

"I was waiting for a pretty woman to walk in."Jeremiah replied as he took a sip of his tea, looking at Chloe over the rim of the teacup.

"Oh? Well, I hope I don't disappoint." Chloe said with a fake pout, placing her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm.

Looking at Chloe, Jeremiah placed his cup down on the table before he leaned forward and replied "Do you see a frown on my face?" He asked while slowly licking his lips, looking from her chest up to her eyes with an intense stare, making Chloe blush heavily as her heart began beating so fast that she thought it might come bursting out of her chest.

Leaning back, Jeremiah decided to spare Chloe from any further teasing (for now) as he looked past her and said "Oh? Aren't those the subjects of the story you're currently writing?"

"You're right." Chloe said, after clearing her throat and managing to regain her composure a bit, as she turned around and saw the football players all gathering together, looking to be in a hurry to leave.

"Shall we?" Jeremiah asked as he stood up, putting on a gray jacket and a gray beanie.

"We shall." Chloe said with a smile as stood up and put on her jacket before walking towards the door, with Jeremiah following behind her.

As they were walking past Lana and Clark, Jeremiah noticed someone accidentally bump into Lana, making her drop the tray she was holding. Watching it fall in slow motion, Jeremiah reached down and perfectly caught the tray, along with the glasses that were on it, not spilling a single drop.

Handing Lana the tray, Jeremiah rubbed the top of her head as he continued walking past her, while Lana and many others stared at him, amazed at his quick reflexes.

"Thank you." Lana said gratefully after breaking out of her stupor, realizing that he just saved her from what would have no doubt been an embarrassing moment.

Jeremiah just gave a lazy wave over his shoulder as he walked out of the beanery, following after Chloe.

[ A Little While Later ]

"Congratulations. I've never seen a group of young men demonstrate such extraordinary stupidity!" Coach Walt exclaimed angrily, walking back and forth as he glared at all of the assembled football players.

"Now, which one of you talked? No one here told Kwan that I supplied you with the tests?" Walt asked with narrowed eyes, getting more angry and annoyed by the second.

"Coach, no college will even look at us with cheating on our records." One of the players, Trevor, spoke up.

"So it was you, Trevor. Now why doesn't that surprise me?" Walt said as he walked up to Trevor and gave him a hard backhanded slap, making him fall to the ground.

"Nothing! Nothing is gonna stand in the way of me and my legacy!"As Walt shouted, the water from the sprinklers started turning into fire, shocking and scaring the football players.

"Whoa." Chloe said as she and Jeremiah watched from behind a wooden post on the side of the football field.

"Now, you're gonna go home, and keep yout mouths shut! Does everyone understand me?!" Walt yelled as multiple areas of the field were set aflame.

"Yes sir!" The players all yelled, quickly turning around and running away from the field, wanting to be as far away from their coach as possible.

"I think this gives new meaning to the phrase 'hothead'." Chloe said as she took a few photos of the scene with her camera.

Beside her, Jeremiah stared at the coach with an apathetic gaze. He'd seen baby Pyronites do more than that in their sleep. Then again, he supposed it wasn't really a fair comparison.

With their task done, Chloe and Jeremiah soon left the field.

[ Next Night - Pep Rally ]

"Why'd you call me?" Trevor asked with a frown as Chloe approached him, away from the other students, who were all hanging out around a bonfire.

"I want to know if, Coach Walt was the one to supply you all with those tests." Chloe asked bluntly, not beating around the bush. While she did hear the coach basically confess to it at the field last night, that wouldn't exactly hold up as evidence, since it's not like she recorded it. She needed someone from the team to speak up.

"If you don't want to get hurt, you should really leave this alone." Trevor warned her with a worried frown.

"Look, you can either talk to me now or later. Either way, this picture's going up in the next issue of The Torch." Chloe said as she pulled out one of the photos she took last night.

"Just leave me alone." Trevor said before he quickly walked off.

Watching him go, Chloe sighed before she put the photo back in her bag and walked away.

Walking to his car, Trevor was trying to quickly unlock the door, until his arm was suddenly grabbed tightly.

"Talking to the school newspaper, Trevor? I thought you were brighter than that." Walt said as he used his powers to heat up his palm, making Trevor scream in pain as he dropped to the ground.

"Coach! I didn't say anything, you gotta believe me! She was at the field last night, she took a picture of us in the sprinklers!" Trevor yelled in pain.

"Hmph. Alright. Go home. I'll deal with this." Walt said as he let go of the boy's now red arm, before he walked off.

[ With Chloe ]

Now inside the school, Chloe walked into The Torch and saw Jeremiah sitting at her computer, looking to be asleep.

Quietly walking up to him, Chloe smiled softly as she slowly, gently ran one of her hands through his long hair, something she knew many girls dreamed of doing. 

"That feels nice." Chloe heard Jeremiah suddenly say, making her jump a bit.

"You weren't sleep?" Chloe asked with a blush as she continued running a hand through his hair, seeing as he apparently didn't mind.

"Of course not. I told you I'd wait for you." Jeremiah said as he looked at Chloe.

There was also the fact that he didn't need to sleep. He did enjoy doing it though.

"So, how'd it go?" Jeremiah asked as he stood up, letting Chloe sit down in her seat.

"As expected, he was afraid to speak up. Maybe I should get Clark to do it. Trevor might be more inclined to speak to him, seeing as they're teammates now." Chloe suggested with a shrug as she started working on her story.

Jeremiah was about to respond, but stopped and narrowed his eyes when he sensed Walt in the hallway. He'd already known that the man was in the school, but had ignored it since that wasn't anything unusual. Now though, he could sense that Walt was about to do something, as if he was building up an attack.

Sensing what was coming, Jeremiah quickly pulled Chloe away from the computer, making her let out a startled yelp. Just in time too, since not even a second later, the computer and everything around it went up in flames.

"What the hell?!" Chloe said in shock as she looked at the flames while holding onto Jeremiah tightly.

Looking at the fire with a small frown, Jeremiah channeled some magic and discretely waved one of his hands, getting rid of all of the flames. His frown grew in annoyance when he sensed Walt continuously trying to bring the flames back. 

'You just made this personal.' Jeremiah thought to himself as the flames died down.

"You alright, Chloe?" Jeremiah asked as he gently pried her off of him and checked her for any burns.

"I'm alright, thanks to you. Can't say the same for my computer." Chloe responded with a frown as she looked around the room at all the damage the fire caused.

"To go this far just for the sake of winning his 200th game..." Jeremiah said while shaking his head. It was all rather silly in his opinion.

"All the more reason I need to write my story about him. It would help to expose just how bad he really is." Chloe said, having already guessed that this was the work of Walt. It was a pretty logical leap, considering that she'd seen with her own eyes how he made the sprinklers shoot out fire.

"Unfortunately, it'll be pretty hard to recover any of the files I had. I should've known to make backups." Chloe said with a depressed sigh as she placed a hand on her forehead.

"I can fix that." Jeremiah said as he gently rubbed the top of her head.

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked as she looked up at him with a curious and hopeful expression.

"You'll see. For now, let me take you home." Jeremiah said as he grabbed Chloe's jacket (which thankfully didn't get burned) and placed it on her shoulders, before grabbing her hand and leading her out of The Torch.

"What about the mess?" Chloe asked as they made it into the hallway.

"I'll take care of it." Was all Jeremiah said.

[ Next Day ]

Sitting in the sauna with a towel around his waist and another around his neck, Walt let out a relaxed sigh with his eyes closed as he felt his muscles unwind, and the tension fade from his body. He had a big day ahead of him, a day where his name would go down in history as a legend of high school coaching, and he wanted to look and feel his best for it.

Hearing the door open, Walt looked up with a frown at whoever was disturbing him.

"What the hell do you want?" Walt asked as he used his towel to wipe some sweat from his face.

"How rude." Jeremiah said as he walked in the sauna, closing the door behind him.

"If you've got something to say, then hurry up and say it! Today's a big day for me." Walt said loudly.

"So I've heard. Unfortunately, you won't be stepping foot on that field." Jeremiah said casually as he sat down on one of the benches, completely unbothered by the heat of the sauna.

"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but you do not want to tick me off right now!" Walt exclaimed with a glare as the steam and temperature picked up.

"Actually, I do. You see, you tried to kill Chloe. That's something I can't let slide." Jeremiah said, calmly as ever, as he looked at Walt.

"Who, the wannabe reporter? The brat should've kept her nose out of my business." Walt said unrepentantly. Why should he care about the life of some random girl? His legacy was far more important.

"I see." Jeremiah said as he stood up and walked toward Walt, not having to go very far due to how small the room was.

"It would be so easy to kill you." Jeremiah said as he looked down at Walt with a bored expression.

"Excuse me?!" Walt yelled with anger as he stood up, with flames coming to life over the stove.

"Oh, calm down. I didn't say I would actually do it, however tempted I may be. No, I've got something else in mind for you." Jeremiah said as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

Before Walt could respond, Jeremiah's eyes briefly glowed gold before he said "Since you love that field so much, then get naked and go run around the field for the rest of your life."

With his eyes glazing over, Walt stood up and took off the towel that was around his waist, before he walked over to the door and opened it, now walking through the hallways in the nude.

With Walt now dealt with, Jeremiah created a portal and stepped through it, coming out in the shadows behind the bleachers outside.

Stepping out of the shadows, Jeremiah walked around the bleachers, before going up to where he could see Chloe sitting next to Jonathon and Martha, with all of them waving at him once they caught sight of him.

"I figured you'd still be inside working on your paper." Jeremiah said as he sat down next to Chloe, giving a nod to Jonathon and Martha.

"I decided to put my personal politics aside and support Clark. Speaking of my paper, thanks again for somehow recovering all of my files." Chloe said with a grateful smile.

"Don't mention it." Jeremiah said with a small smile. It really wasn't difficult at all. All he'd done was have Cortana recover all of the files, which didn't even take a second, and send them all to Chloe's home computer in an email.

"Do either of you know where Clark is?" Jonathon asked as he and Martha looked around.

"He's inside the school." Jeremiah said, having sensed Clark's aura.

"What? But he's gonna miss his first game." Martha said with worry and confusion.

Before anyone could say anything else, everyone in attendance (excluding Jeremiah) were shocked beyond belief when they saw a nude Walt come from inside the school, and start running around the field.

"No. Way." Chloe said with a shocked expression, before she burst out laughing a few moments later, being joined by many others.

"What the hell is he doing?" Jonathon asked the question many people were wondering, watching as the school security tried to catch Walt, who threw wild punches at anyone that came near him.

He may have used his pyrokinesis, if not for the fact that Jeremiah had placed a mental block on him, making him unable to use his power.

"Looks like you've got something else to add to your paper, Chloe." Jeremiah said as he looked over at the still laughing girl.

"Definitely." Chloe managed to say in between her laughs.

Eventually, the game was called to a stop due to Walt's actions, with the win being awarded to the opposing team, something that made Jeremiah's smile widen a bit.

What better way to get revenge on someone like Walt than to crush their pride?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? I'm trying to figure out just how many things I wanna change, which I'll admit is a little difficult.
> 
> Also, I feel like I should clarify this really quick. Jeremiah and Chloe are not dating yet, despite how they were acting towards each other in this chapter. They most likely will be together by the end of season 1 though.
> 
> Next chapter I'll most likely be showing just what type of work Jeremiah does every night.
> 
> Anyway, I guess that's all for now. Til next time, guys.


	3. Shift and Cool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo.
> 
> This chapter covers episodes 4 and 5 of season 1.
> 
> Not to much to say this time. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 3: Shift and Cool

"Hey" - Speaking

'WTF?' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

________________________________________

Walking through the huge Metropolis Mall, Annie could be seen laughing and smiling with three female friends as they went through the various stores that caught their attention. They all had some free time from their classes at Metropolis University, and decided to use that time to have some fun. Annie hadn't bought anything yet, but two of her friends could be seen carrying a bag on their arms.

"I swear, you two always buy the first thing you see." Annie said with a smile as she shook her head.

Annie was wearing a dark blue halter top, paired with a black mini skirt, and a pair of tight black leggings. On her feet she wore a pair of dark blue ankle length high heeled boots. Her hair was done up into a high messy ponytail, and she had her nails painted violet. She was also wearing a pair of black glasses that had rectangular frames, instead of her usual red pair.

"I can't help it. I just love shopping." One of her friends said with a helpless shrug.

The girl had shoulder length brown hair, along with tanned skin and teal eyes. She stood at a slightly above average height of 5'6". She had a slim body with perky C-cup breasts and a nice plump ass. Her hips were just a little more narrow than she would have liked, but it didn't take away from her beauty.

The girl was wearing a black and white polka dot crop top, which was paired with a matching skirt, a pair of of black high heeled sandals, and a black choker around her neck. The outfit did well to show off her toned body that was gained from all of her cheerleading, especially her beautifully long legs. While it was still Fall, today was a pretty warm day, somewhere in the mid 60's, so she figured she might as well take advantage of the warm weather while she could. She did plan on buying a jacket though, just in case it got chilly later.

This girl's name was Bonnie Rockwaller. She was one of Annie's best friends. They weren't always that close though, due to the fact that Bonnie used to be quite mean and stuck up. Thankfully, she had mellowed out in recent years, especially once they got to college (although, that could change when someone did something to annoy or anger her).

"Right? Besides, we're college students! If anything, I'd say it's our duty to have as much fun as we can. That includes splurging whenever we go shopping." One of the other girls said with a self-assured nod and a smile.

The girl had fair skin, with long hair that was red/orange, amber eyes, and a slender yet curvy body, much like Bonnie. Her breasts were a little bigger than Bonnie's, whereas her ass was a little smaller. She stood at an average height of 5'4".

She was wearing a purple blouse, dark blue jeans, and a light brown pair of high heeled boots that went up to her knees. She also had a purple hairband on her head.

This girl was Daisy Bronson. Another one of Annie's closest friends. (Her design is based heavily off of Daphne from Scooby-Doo.)

"Leave them be, Annie. You know how they get when they see something they like." The last girl in their group said with a resigned tone.

The girl had light brown skin, long black hair that was tied into a low ponytail with a blue band, dark blue eyes, and a curvy body, just like the rest of her friends. She was the tallest of the four girls, standing at 5'8", and had a curvy body that was also athletic due to her years of running track.

She was wearing a tight black long turtle neck, along with a pair of tight jeans that were light blue, and a pair of high heeled black boots. She was also wearing a silver necklace, a silver bracelet, and her nails were painted black. Despite not showing any skin, her outfit did a good job of accentuating all of her curves, drawing many stares in the process.

This young woman's name was Jasmine Anand. The last of Annie's best friends. (Her design is mostly based off of Princess Jasmine.)

"I guess." Annie said with a shrug. It's not like she had a problem with it or anything. Shaking those thoughts away, Annie continued looking around, smiling when she saw a shoe store. A girl could never have enough shoes, right? However, before she could go inside, she was stopped.

"Hm? Annie?" A familiar voice called out to her, making her stop in her tracks with her eyes widening when she heard it. There was no way she could not recognize that voice.

As Annie quickly turned around, her friends were somewhat startled when they saw her with what was easily the happiest expression they had ever seen from her, and that was certainly saying something, considering her naturally cheerful personality.

"Jeremiah!" Annie shouted happily as she quickly ran past her friends and up to Jeremiah, before she began tightly hugging him with a big smile on her face.

"Hey, Annie." Jeremiah said as he looked down at the girl with a small smile while gently rubbing her back.

Not far away from them, Bonnie, Jasmine, and Daisy looked on with their eyes wide open.

"What are you doing here?" Annie asked once they pulled away from each other, and she got a good look at what he was wearing.

Jeremiah was wearing a long sleeved gray button up, along with a black tie, a black waistcoat, a black pair of slacks, and a pair of black formal shoes. He was also wearing a black and gold watch on his left wrist, his usual black ring with a gold X on his left index finger, and he had his long hair tied up in a ponytail.

"Hmm... A business meeting, I suppose you could say." Jeremiah replied while still looking down at Annie, before he moved his gaze past her, and raised an eyebrow at the three girls staring at him with eyes as wide as dinner plates. 

Seeing where he was looking, Annie grabbed Jeremiah's hand and pulled him over to her friends.

"Friends of yours, Annie?" Jeremiah asked once they reached the other three girls. They certainly were pretty.

Still holding Jeremiah's hand, Annie cleared her throat, which managed to finally break the girls out of their surprised state, before she began the introductions.

"Jeremiah, these are my best friends, Bonnie, Daisy, and Jasmine. Girls, this is Jeremiah, my... Jeremiah." Annie introduced them, though she ended with a slight questioning tone. It was kind of complicated to explain her and Jeremiah's relationship.

"A pleasure." Jeremiah said with a smile as he looked down at the three girls, before he bent down and kissed each of their hands, getting a pretty blush out of all three of them. 

Looking at her friends, Annie raised an eyebrow when she saw that they all seemed unable to speak. It was a pretty interesting sight for her, considering none of them were lacking in confidence.

"Your friends are as beautiful as I'd expect, Annie." Jeremiah said, getting a smile from her as he reached over and gently rubbed her head. He held in a chuckle when he saw her friends all gain flustered expressions.

Bonnie was the first to finally find her voice.

"So, you and Annie are... Friends?" Bonnie asked as she looked between the two (especially at their hands that were intertwined). She seriously couldn't understand how Annie had been hiding a guy like this.

Glancing over at Annie and seeing the light blush on her face, along with her grip on his hand slightly tightening, Jeremiah smiled as he turned back to Bonnie.

"Something like that." Jeremiah replied, making Bonnie, as well as Daisy and Jasmine, raise their eyebrows in curiosity at the rather vague answer.

"Are you busy? If not, why don't you walk around with us? I'm sure we'd all love to get to know Annie's... Friend." Jasmine suggested as she looked Jeremiah up and down with barely hidden hunger in her eyes.

"I'd hate to intrude-"

"Y- You're not!" Daisy quickly interrupted Jeremiah, and ducked her head in embarrassment when he turned to her.

Taking a look at his watch, Jeremiah shrugged lightly, before nodding.

He had some time to kill, so why not?

"Alright then. In that case, I'll carry these." Jeremiah said as he walked over to Bonnie and Daisy, before grabbing both of their bags.

"You're pretty brave, offering to carry four young women's shopping bags. Pretty sure that's equal to a death sentence for most guys." Bonnie said with a smirk as she crossed her arms. Unlike Jasmine, Bonnie didn't even try to hide the hunger in her eyes as she looked at him.

Jeremiah just gave her a small smile in response.

"I'll also pay for everything, so no need to hold back." Jeremiah said casually, much to the shock of the girls. Annie was also a little surprised, but not as much as her friends. She was used to Jeremiah doing things like this.

"We couldn't make you do that." Jasmine said as she shook her head.

"It's fine. Anything for a friend of Annie." Jeremiah replied as he looked down at the girls with a smile.

"Are you sure?" Bonnie asked a little hesitantly as she looked up at him. If this was her back in her first few years in high school, she wouldn't have hesitated to accept. Now, however, she didn't really like to take advantage of people, even if they were the ones offering.

"I'm sure." Jeremiah waved off their concerns.

The girls - sans Annie - all looked at each other with conflicted expressions, before they all turned to Annie, and watched as she just nodded at them with a smile.

About half an hour later, Jeremiah could be seen with about five bags on each arm, getting sympathetic looks and even a few shouts of encouragement from other guys who saw him, much to his amusement. He really didn't think it was a big deal.

To his further amusement, Jeremiah noticed Bonnie, Daisy, and Jasmine all trying to subtly flirt with him. Apparently, Annie also noticed this, because she tightly grabbed his hand and looked at him with a cute pout.

As they were walking, Bonnie's eyes widened slightly when she noticed a particular store, before she grew a smirk. This could be interesting.

As she walked towards the store full of lingerie, Bonnie looked behind her with her smirk still intact, expecting to see Jeremiah with a flustered expression. However, to her surprise, he just casually followed behind her, not looking the least bit bothered.

For some reason, that seemed to light a fire inside of Bonnie. She now took it as a challenge to get some type of reaction out of him. While she may not be as vain as she used to be, she did take pride in her looks.

Behind her, the other girls - including Annie - narrowed their eyes when they noticed what Bonnie was trying to do.

'Challenge accepted!' Annie, Daisy, and Jasmine thought in unison.

Once they got inside the store, Annie guided Jeremiah onto a chair, and he watched with interest as the girls all looked at him, before turning to each other with challenging looks. After nodding to each other, the four girls all walked off and began grabbing multiple sets of lingerie that caught their eye, while Jeremiah just put down the bags he was holding and leaned back in his seat.

Once they came back towards the dressing rooms, Bonnie, Daisy, and Jasmine all headed into three of the rooms, while Annie took a seat next to Jeremiah, making him raise an eyebrow at her.

"I'm gonna wait to go last." Annie said when she saw the look he was giving her, receiving a nod in return.

"I see. Just for the record, you do know that you don't need to compete for my attention, right?" Jeremiah asked as he reached over and gently pulled Annie's head to his chest, making her smile contentedly as she leaned into his touch.

"I know, I just figured it could be a little fun." Annie replied with a shrug.

"Well, you know I'm always up for some fun." Jeremiah said as he leaned down and placed a light kiss on Annie's forehead, making her gain a happy smile and blush.

Hearing one of the doors open, Jeremiah watched as Daisy came out first, and his sharp eyes locked onto her as he took in what she was wearing.

She had on a purple gown that was slightly transparent, along with a purple bra and matching panties underneath. She also had on a pair of purple stockings. Overall, she didn't really show much skin, but it definitely didn't look bad.

Looking at her face, Jeremiah saw that she had an interesting mix of a sultry, yet also nervous (mostly nervous) expression. It was actually so cute that Jeremiah almost got up and hugged her.

"You look beautiful, Daisy." Jeremiah said with a smile, deciding to help alleviate the young woman's nervousness. She really did look beautiful though.

"T- thank you!" Daisy stuttered out with a blush, before quickly disappearing back inside the dressing room, making Jeremiah let out a quiet chuckle.

"Daisy's never had a boyfriend, so she tends to get a little nervous around guys... Well, some. Combined with how nervous people tend to get around you due to your looks - amongst other things - I'm surprised she even did that much. Actually, I'm surprised she hasn't fainted." Annie said with a laugh, before it changed to a thoughtful expression.

'I know I almost did.' Annie thought to herself, thinking about when she first met Jeremiah about two years ago. She would never have imagined that he would become such a big part of her life.

"Oh? Am I really that pretty?" Jeremiah asked as he turned to Annie while batting his eyelashes, getting a laugh from her as she playfully hit his chest.

"Yup. The prettiest." Annie said between her laughs as she winked up at him, receiving a smile in return.

As he heard another of the doors open, Jeremiah and Annie shifted their attention back to the dressing rooms, and watched as Jasmine came confidently strutting out, only stopping once she got a few inches away from Jeremiah.

"How do I look?" Jasmine asked sultrily while striking a pose.

Jasmine was wearing a light blue lace bra that looked like it was struggling to contain her sizable breasts, along with a pair of matching panties. As she did a slow spin, Jeremiah saw that they, much like her bra, were barely holding in her bubbly ass. Combined with her toned arms, abs, and legs, she made for a very sexy sight.

Honestly, Jasmine was surprised with herself. While she was a very confident young woman, she wasn't the type of girl that would usually do something like this, especially with a guy she had just met not even an hour ago. There was just something about him, and it wasn't just the fact that he was easily the best looking guy she had ever seen, in person or otherwise.

'Then again, it's not like we're having sex, right?' Jasmine weakly thought to herself as justification. For some reason though, she felt the need to add 'yet' to the end of that thought.

"Blue is certainly your color." Jeremiah praised as he ran his eyes all over Jasmine's body, making her smile in satisfaction.

As Jasmine turned around, Jeremiah watched as she walked back to the changing room, with her hips sensually swaying as she went.

Jeremiah was about to say something to Annie, only to stop himself when he saw Bonnie finally come out. Next to him, Annie widened her eyes when she saw what her friend was wearing.

Apparently deciding to go all out, Bonnie had on a black lace bra, which was see-through except for the areas covering her nipples. She also had on a matching lace thong, along with black stockings, and a garter belt. Paired with her fit, curvy body, as well as the black choker she was wearing, it was definitely a sexy look.

However, even Jeremiah was a little surprised when Bonnie turned around and bent over in front of him, showing off her flexibility and naked ass cheeks as she looked up at him through the gap between her spread legs.

"S- So? What do you think?" Bonnie asked with a blush and half lidded eyes as she swayed her hips in front of him, either forgetting or not minding Annie's presence.

Bonnie couldn't quite explain what it was that she was feeling. It was as if a fire had been lit in her nether regions when she first laid eyes on Jeremiah, which turned into a raging inferno when she looked into his eyes. It only seemed to get worse the more time she spent around him, especially since she knew he had a good view of her private areas with what she was wearing.

Despite how vain she used to be, Bonnie was never a slut. In fact, she was still a virgin, despite having had a few boyfriends before, so even she was shocked at how she was basically throwing herself at a guy she had only just met today. Her body just felt so damn hot!

From his seat, Jeremiah's sharp eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Bonnie's barely covered asshole, not to mention her wet lower lips. Glancing down to Annie, who still had her head on his chest, he saw that she was just looking on with wide eyes full of surprise.

It was good that he had Cortana hack into the cameras and change what they were showing, otherwise some random security guard might be getting a free show. He also compelled the other customers and workers to stay away from this area for now.

"You look beautiful. So much so, that I'm tempted to take a picture." Jeremiah said, watching as some of Bonnie's nectar dripped from her lower lips and onto the floor.

Still bent over and looking at him through the gap between her legs, Bonnie bit her lower lip with a smile as she began shaking her hips a little faster. A picture... Would he use it to pleasure himself later?

Seeing the glint in Bonnie's eyes after he said that, Jeremiah decided to use compulsion on her and make her go back into the changing room. It wouldn't get rid of her arousal, but it would stop her from doing or saying something that she would possibly regret later. She'd likely already be embarrassed enough as it is.

"That was.... Um..." Annie trailed off, not quite knowing what to say. 

"Interesting? Strange?" Jeremiah threw out a couple of suggestions.

"Both. Probably leaning a little more towards the latter." Annie said while shaking her head. It was weird to see the normally confident Bonnie be reduced to that. She had almost looked like an animal in heat.

"Well, guess it's my turn." Annie said as she stood up with a smile. As she was about to walk forward, she let out a surprised moan when Jeremiah suddenly gave her a light spank, making her look back at him with a playful glare while he just smiled at her.

This was shaping up to be a great day.

[ Some Time Later ]

"That's the last of it." Jeremiah said as he put the last of the shopping bags into the trunk of Daisy's truck. It was a purple 2001 Range Rover. It was pretty nice, especially for a college student.

"I'm amazed that you somehow managed to carry over twenty bags." Jasmine said, with Jeremiah just giving her a small smile in response.

"Well, as nice as this has been, I think it's about time I got going." Jeremiah said after taking a look at his watch.

"D- Do you r- really have to go?" Daisy asked with a sad look. She was enjoying getting to know Jeremiah, and had hoped that he would stick with them for the rest of the day.

"Unfortunately. I have some business to take care of." Jeremiah replied before he walked up to Annie with his arms open wide, and she immediately embraced him in a tight hug.

"Thanks for today. Sorry we made you spend so much." Annie said with an apologetic look once they pulled apart, and Jeremiah saw the others gain similar looks as well. He had ended up spending over five thousand dollars after all.

"It's fine. You know I don't mind." Jeremiah said with a smile as he gently rubbed the top of Annie's head.

Taking another quick glance at his watch, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh.

"Alright, I really need to get going." Jeremiah said as he started walking away, but stopped after taking a single step.

"Almost forgot." Jeremiah said as he turned around and walked back up to Annie. Before she could say anything, Jeremiah leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, making Annie's eyes widen slightly before closing as she melted into the passionate kiss, reaching up and wrapping her arms around Jeremiah's neck as she did so.

As Annie moaned and lost herself in the kiss, Jeremiah reached down under her skirt and began groping her, and smiled when he felt that she wasn't wearing any panties under her leggings. Just what he'd expect from an exhibitionist like her.

'So damn lucky!' Bonnie thought to herself as she watched the hot make-out session. She could even see their tongues playing with each other when they had briefly pulled apart. Next to her, Jasmine and Daisy were having similar thoughts as they all looked on with envious expressions. However, they were also surprised. Before today, they had all thought that Annie was an innocent virgin, seeing as she never mentioned anything about having had sex, or even a boyfriend before.

'I'm about to cum!' Annie thought to herself with a blush, and did just that a few seconds later. This was something that happened every time she kissed Jeremiah. She never understood how she always came so hard just from kissing, but she definitely wasn't complaining. In fact, her pleasure was boosted even higher this time, knowing that her friends were watching the entire time.

Feeling Annie shudder in his arms, Jeremiah internally smiled. There actually was a reason that even a mere kiss from him was capabale of bringing a woman to her climax. It was due to a magic he had created and mastered around forty years ago.

Sex magic.

He could do a lot when actively using it, but it also gave him a number of passive effects. One such effect was making all of his bodily fluids into aphrodisiacs. It was also part of the reason the girls had been so daring with their lingerie and actions, especially Bonnie, due to him kissing their hands after Annie introduced them.

Pulling away from Annie's soft lips, Jeremiah was unsurprised when he saw that her eyes were full of lust.

"Go on and have fun with your friends for now, because later I'll be coming over." Jeremiah whispered into Annie's ear before nibbling on it and giving it a lick, and smiled when he saw her shivering and heard her let out a moan. Discretely glancing to the other three girls, Jeremiah held in a laugh when he saw the looks on their faces. He had whispered that just loud enough for them to hear, and he was pretty sure that, despite being virgins, they all understood what he was implying.

"Well, I'll be leaving now. Again, it was a pleasure meeting you girls. We'll have to do this again some time." Jeremiah said as he gave the girls a smile, before walking away.

As the girls watched Jeremiah go, they saw him walk up to a silver 2001 Mercedes-Benz with tinted windows. Bonnie, Daisy, and Jasmine were surprised, yet they felt like they probably shouldn't be.

Driving up to them, Jeremiah gave them one last wave after rolling down his windows, with them waving back, before he drove off, eventually going out of sight.

Letting out a sigh as she turned around, Annie let out a sound of surprise and took a step back when she saw how close her friends were standing to her, with all of them staring at her intensely.

"Spill." Bonnie, Daisy, and Jasmine all said in unison.

Annie gulped.

[ Monday - Smallville High ]

Standing in gym class next to Clark and Pete, Jeremiah had a bored look on his face as he waited for his turn to climb the ropes. Like all of the other guys, Jeremiah was wearing the male's gym uniform, which consisted of a yellow t-shirt that had the school name and logo printed on the front, and a pair of red gym shorts or pants (he had shorts). He also has his hair tied up into a ponytail.

Idly humming a song to himself, Jeremiah turned his head when he heard the girls walk through the gym room, which seemed to get Clark's attention as well. The girls were in - as you'd expect - the girls gym uniform, which was basically the exact same as the guy's uniform, only with the colors flipped.

Apparently, the girls noticed when Jeremiah looked at them, which was shown when nearly all of them started waving and smiling at him, which he returned out of politeness. He also noticed Clark give Lana a smile, which she returned, before she turned away when her eyes landed on him, and quickly walked out with the rest of the girls. It was too bad Chloe didn't have gym this period.

"Keep your eyes in your heads, guys." Pete said as he tapped Jeremiah and Clark on their chests to get their attention.

After turning back to the boys climbing rope, Clark suddenly started rubbing his head with a pained expression on his face, which got Jeremiah's attention as he narrowed his eyes. Clark wouldn't just get sick out of nowhere.

"Kent! Are we boring you?" The gym teacher asked with a frown as he folded his arms.

"I'm sorry. M- my head hurts." Clark said, still rubbing his head.

"That's because you need to get some blood pumping, come on! You and Ross are next." The gym teacher exclaimed as he clapped his hands.

"Don't fall." Jeremiah advised the two boys with a bland tone and expression as they walked up to the ropes.

"Thanks for the tip." Pete replied sarcastically.

As the two climbed the ropes, with the coach shouting the entire time, Jeremiah watched as Clark suddenly stopped and started staring at Pete with a troubled look on his face.

"Clark!" Pete yelled when Clark suddenly lost his hold on the rope and started falling.

Normally, this is where Jeremiah would probably intervene. He could definitely get below Clark fast enough in time to catch him successfully, and could even do it without looking suspicious.

It's precisely because it was Clark, however, that Jeremiah didn't do anything.

Walking up to Clark with the gym teacher and other students, Jeremiah saw that Clark had a weird look on his face as he now stared at a wall from his position on the floor.

'Maybe it has to do with his powers?' Jeremiah thought to himself. He did know that Kryptonians got powers from being under a yellow or blue sun, but he didn't know what all of their powers were supposed to be. He knew about the strength, speed, and durability, but that was all he knew for sure.

Judging from the perverted smile growing on Clark's face, Jeremiah was pretty sure he was right. Something related to the eyes, perhaps?

Channeling some magic into his eyes, which allowed him to see through the wall, Jeremiah laid eyes on what Clark was staring at.

The girl's locker room, with the girls currently in the middle of changing.

Jeremiah had sensed that the girls were in there (not that he needed to since that was common sense), but he certainly hadn't thought that Clark - of all people - would do something like using his powers to watch them change. He would've expected 'Boy Scout Clark' to turn away the moment he realized what he was doing.

'Hmm.... Lana certainly does have a cute butt.' Jeremiah idly thought to himself as he continued looking through the wall. It really was too bad that Chloe didn't have gym this period.

Still, at least this made gym class a little more entertaining.

[ Next Day ]

Standing in one of the halls of the school, Clark half-hid behind a row of lockers as he stared intensely at a girl that was further down the hallway.

The girl had lightly tanned skin, long hair that went a little past her shoulders and was dark brown, and light brown eyes. Standing at about 5'4.5", she had a slender body with average assets. She may not have been curvy, but she was still a pretty girl overall. On the outside, at least.

This girl was Tina Greer.

"You know, you should probably not stare at a girl while hiding like that. It tends to scare them off." Clark heard Jeremiah's voice come from right behind him, making him jump in surprise and turn around.

"Just go talk to her if you're interested." Jeremiah continued as he looked past Clark and at Tina.

"It's not like that. Have you ever noticed anything strange about Tina?" Clark protested and then asked as he went back to staring at Tina.

"You mean beyond basically being a clone of Lana?" Jeremiah asked as he leaned against a wall.

Indeed, it was obvious to many that Tina was obsessed with Lana. Not in a romantic or lustful way, but obsessed in the sense that it seemed like she actually wanted to be Lana. It was part of the reason that no guys tried to date her, despite her good looks.

When Jeremiah said that, something clicked in Clark's mind as he thought back to when he saw Tina's skeleton with his new power.

Seeing the look Clark's face, Jeremiah pushed himself off the wall and walked away when he decided his job was done. He took a peek into Tina's mind, and saw that she had killed her mother, much like Greg. However, this time, Jeremiah would not be involving himself. He was sure Clark could handle it. He was already on the right track after all.

[ Next Week ]

"This is what I love about high school parties. People will gather anywhere as long as there's legally purchased alcohol, and even the slightest chance of hooking up." Chloe said with a smile as she walked with Jeremiah. It was nighttime, and the duo were currently at Crater Lake for, as Chloe stated, a party. Clark and Pete had homework and/or chores to take care of, so they were unable to come.

"You were the one that wanted to come." Jeremiah replied while looking around, idly taking note of Lana and Whitney snuggling with a blanket wrapped around them.

"Yeah, but that's because I didn't know it would be so cold. It's like twenty thousand degrees below zero out here." Chloe said while rubbing her arms, her coat and sweater doing little to protect her from the cold.

Glancing over at the shivering Chloe, Jeremiah pulled off the red coat he was wearing and wrapped it around her from behind, which got a blush out of her as she thanked him.

"We could always leave." Jeremiah suggested as he walked with his hands in his pockets. While he didn't show it outwardly, he was pretty bored. It wasn't that he didn't like parties, but this was basically just a bunch of kids playing around a campfire. He hadn't the faintest idea why Chloe had wanted to come so badly.

"And go where?" Chloe asked as she looked up at Jeremiah, feeling much warmer with his jacket around her.

Truthfully, as long as Chloe could spend time with Jeremiah, she didn't care where they went. She had only asked him to come to this party with her because she'd heard about it earlier, and didn't feel like staying in the house tonight.

In response, Jeremiah just wrapped his arm around Chloe's shoulders and walked them over to his car.

After starting the car and turning the radio and heat on, Jeremiah pulled out of his parking spot and drove off.

"So, where are we going?" Chloe asked while reaching over and turning the radio up a little bit. There was a nice, slow song playing, which fit nicely with the peaceful drive.

"No clue." Jeremiah replied with a light shrug.

"No clue?" Chloe repeated as she turned to him with a confused expression.

"I often just walk or drive around until I see something that catches my interest." Jeremiah explained with one hand on the steering wheel, while the other was propped up on the armrest with his head resting on his fist.

"I see." Chloe said as she leaned back in her seat, deciding to just go with it.

With that, the two continued driving off into the night.

[ One Day Later ]

In the dark of the night, a lone figure could be seen sitting on the ledge of a building. The figure's silhouette was only visible thanks to the light of the moon, giving them a slightly ominous look.

This was Jeremiah, and he was currently wearing his 'work' outfit as he stealthily followed a student from Smallville High, a boy by the name of Sean Kelvin, who was currently standing in front of a house.

Earlier today, Jeremiah had sensed a distinct change in Sean's aura, with it feeling much colder than normal. He'd had Cortana run a scan on the boy when he was at school, and she had informed him that Sean's body temperature was also much lower than normal. So, seeing as most people in this town seem to go crazy after getting powers, Jeremiah decided to keep a close eye on Sean. Then again, the boy had already not been what would be considered a 'good' person.

Of course, Jeremiah didn't necessarily need to follow the boy personally, seeing as he could have just sent one of his familiars, or even just placed a tracker on him, but he figured it would probably best if he personally took care of it, especially after seeing how Sean was acting earlier. The closest comparison would be that of a drug addict that hadn't been able to get their fix in a while.

From what Jeremiah understood so far about Sean's new ability, he was apparently unable to stay warm. It seemed that no matter how much heat Sean absorbed, it would always leave him eventually, making him having to keep taking from different sources, including other people.

Watching as Sean opened the door and walked inside, Jeremiah channeled magic into his eyes, which allowed him to see inside of the house. Looking around for a bit, Jeremiah paused when he saw another student from Smallville High, a pretty blonde haired girl by the name of Jenna Barnum, standing in the shower. Moving his gaze elsewhere, Jeremiah could see Sean walking towards the bathroom.

Having seen enough, Jeremiah pushed himself off the roof, before he suddenly disappeared from sight.

[ Inside The House ]

"We're on top of the world~" Jenna sang along with the song she had playing as she washed her hair in the shower.

Hearing some footsteps, along with door slowly creaking open, Jenna moved her head away from the water and opened her eyes.

"Sean? Is that you? I've been waiting for you. Thought you might like to take a shower." Jenna called out with a smile while rubbing some soap across her body. 

Not hearing a response, Jenna reached over to the small music player she had hanging on one of the walls of the shower and turned down the volume.

"Sean?" Jenna called out again, still receiving no response. Shrugging, she went back to washing down her body. However, her attention was grabbed when she heard deep breathing, along with seeing a shadowed silhouette through the shower curtain.

"Sean? What are you waiting for? The water's nice and warm." Jenna said enticingly.

Again, no response.

"Sean?" Jenna said again, this time more tentatively.

Suddenly, the shower curtain was roughly pulled open, and Jenna screamed in horror when she saw Sean's face, which was now ice blue, and even had little bits of ice building up on it.

"Sean?! What happened to you?!" Jenna shouted with a scared tone as she pressed herself back against one of the walls of the shower. Her eyes went wide in terror when Sean placed his hand on the shower head, making all of the water suddenly start turning into ice.

Panicking, Jenna tried to quickly get out of the shower, only for her to end up slipping and get wrapped up in the shower curtain.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me." Sean said as he slowly advanced toward Jenna, not really sounding apologetic.

"Sean, you're really scaring me! What do you want?!" Jenna asked as she stood up and backed up against a wall, on the verge of crying from how terrified she was.

"I just want to get warm." Sean said as he walked up to Jenna and reached forward with both hands to absorb her body heat.

Just before Sean could touch Jenna, the door to the bathroom suddenly burst open, startling Sean and igniting some hope in Jenna, who now had tears running down her face.

The moment Sean turned around to see who the intruder was (and maybe get another source of heat), he was hit with a devastating punch to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop to his knees, before a strong punch to the face knocked him unconscious.

"Are you alright?" Jeremiah asked Jenna, with his voice sounding slightly metallic.

Looking over at the person who saved her, Jenna was a little freaked out by the mask he wore, along with his intimidating size. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt though, seeing as he did literally just save her life.

"I'm- I don't- I- What even..." Not quite knowing what to say, Jenna walked up to her savior and embraced him tightly, sobbing and repatedly thanking him as she did so, not even caring that she was naked. Never in her life had she thought that she would possibly die at such a young age, and yet that's exactly what almost just happened.

"You're safe now." Jeremiah said while gently rubbing the girl's back.

Looking down at Sean's unconscious body, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh. It was truly a shame how many kids in this town were going crazy and/or becoming murderers.

About ten minutes later, Jenna had finally calmed down a little bit, and was now dressed in an oversized white t-shirt and a simple pair of pajama pants.

Naturally, Jenna wanted to know just what the hell had happened to Sean, so Jeremiah sat down and explained it all to her. He had briefly considered just erasing her memories of this whole event, but ultimately decided not to. That said, he didn't tell her anything about himself.

"Seriously, thank you. You saved my life." Jenna said again with a grateful tone as they stood at the front door of her house.

"Don't mention it." Jeremiah waved off her thanks. On his shoulder, he was carrying a securely tied up Sean.

"So... What are you gonna do with him?" Jenna asked as she looked at the unconscious body of Sean with a frown. Whatever feelings of love or lust she may have still had for him were now completely gone, with contempt now being all she felt for him.

Nearly being killed will do that to you.

"Ah... Well, don't worry about that. Just know that he won't be doing anything like this ever again. I guarantee that." Jeremiah answered.

"Well, whatever happens to him, I hope he rots." Jenna said as she looked at Sean with a hateful glare.

"Right. Why don't you go on and get some sleep? It's been a rough night." Jeremiah suggested, and it was only then that Jenna realized how worn out she was. Before she could even say anything else, she fell asleep right on the spot.

Catching her before she could fall, Jeremiah carried Jenna with one arm back inside the house and into her bedroom. Once she was tucked in, Jeremiah went to the bathroom and fixed it up with magic, before he finally left the house.

[ One Hour Later ]

Rolling out of the way of an attack, Jeremiah created two balls of lightning above his palms before launching them forward, getting a his of pain out of his opponent.

Said opponent was a creature that could only be described as a monster. It was huge, standing around 10' tall, incredibly obese, and had blood red skin with an almost clown-like face. It had very sharp teeth, along with sharp claws on its hands and feet that were about 2-3 inches long, and two ridged horns protruding from its head. The veins around its neck were bulging and easily visible. It also had very think, purple lips and no tongue.

This creature was a demon. The type of monsters that Jeremiah fought every night.

The place they were fighting in could be mistaken for Earth at a first glance, but a second look would tell you that something is wrong. For one, the sky was red, unlike the blue sky of Earth. There was also the fact that the buildings and surrounding areas were all... Warped, for lack of a better word. No nature existed in this horrid place, with none even being able to grow thanks to the demonic beasts that resided here, with their energy tainting everything around them. Even the water here was more akin to black sludge and had an acidic quality to it.

This horrible place was known as Limbo. The place between Earth and the Underworld.

Watching the obese demon in front of him rear its head back, Jeremiah's eyes widened and he quickly created a strong barrier in front of him. Just in time too, as the demon let out a powerful stream of red fire from its mouth not even two seconds later. If this was regular fire, Jeremiah wouldn't need to worry about it. Sadly, this wasn't regular fire. It was Purgatory Fire. Something could cause him major harm, even death.

As for why Jeremiah was here in Limbo fighting demons, it was simple. If someone didn't take care of the demons while they were here, then they would eventually cross over to Earth and start corrupting and killing humans. It had already happened multiple times.

It wasn't only demons that Jeremiah spent his nights fighting though. He also dealt with other supernatural creatures, such as phantoms. Much like demons, phantoms basically spent all of their time feeding on negative human emotions, before eventually driving the humans to act on those emotions, whether it be by killing, robbing, commiting suicide, etc. Unlike demons, however, phantoms resided in the human world (Earth), making them equally dangerous, if not more so, despite the fact that they weren't actually as strong as demons.

As soon as the stream of fire came to an end, Jeremiah quickly flew up into the air to get an aerial advantage, with the demon roaring in anger as it began rapidly shooting out small fireballs.

Dodging the fireballs, Jeremiah clapped his hands together before pulling them apart. In his right hand he now held a javelin made of light. Cocking his arm back, Jeremiah threw the light construct at the demon, with it piercing through the monster's chest, managing to take out one of its multiple hearts. He smiled in satisfaction at the roar of pain it let out.

Unfortunately, Jeremiah's satisfaction was short lived as he saw a group of smaller demons flying towards him, making him frown and sigh. There goes his aerial advantage.

'Well... At least I still have the speed and overall power advantage.' Jeremiah thought to himself as he looked at the ugly creatures in front of him. They looked like a hideous mix between flies, caterpillars, and goblins. They were also carrying little shields as they floated in front of him. There were about a dozen of them in total.

Letting out an annoyed sigh as he created two swords in his hands, Jeremiah charged at the demons head on.

Just another night at the office for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's a wrap. What'd you guys think?
> 
> I think I may have gone a little overboard with Bonnie's lingerie scene, but whatever. I had fun writing it. If people complain about it, then maybe I'll go back and change it.
> 
> Moving on, some people may notice that I basically just skimmed through the episodes in this chapter. This was done on purpose. I didn't really like either episode that much, and was honestly considering just skipping them entirely (I'll probably do that at some point in the future, just a heads up).
> 
> Moving on, I want to clarify something really quick. When Jeremiah saved Jenna, he wasn't wearing his work outfit to hide his identity. If he had already been a vigilante, then Chloe would have had something about him on the Wall of Weird. He was wearing it because he was going to Limbo right after, so decided to just put it on ahead of time.
> 
> Speaking of Limbo, now you all know what it is that Jeremiah does for 'work'. He's basically an exorcist.
> 
> Also, I've come to a decision regarding my AN about Chloe. Multiple asked for Alice Eve to be the actress that replaces Allison Mack, so that's who I'm gonna choose. She's a beauty, which also helps. So from now on, whenever I'm describing Chloe, picture Alice Eve instead of Allison Mack.
> 
> Anyway, that's all for now guys. Hope you all enjoyed. Be sure to review and let me know what you all think.


	4. Parties and Such

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo.
> 
> Here's chapter 4, guys. This chapter covers episodes 1x07, a bit of 1x08, and 1x13.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter 4: Parties and Such

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hm?' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

____________________________________

"Cutting the heads off of supermodels... It's a little redundant, isn't it?" Chloe asked jokingly as she watched one of her female classmates cut the heads off of pictures of supermodels, and paste small photos of her own head onto the bodies.

The girl had long brown hair that reached to her upper back, bright blue eyes, and a button nose. She was also overweight, which gave her a double chin.

This girl's name was Jodi Melville.

"Just... looking for outfit ideas. I still don't have anything to wear to Lana's party. What's up?" Jodi asked with a forced smile as she quickly closed the book she'd been putting the pictures in, embarrassed that someone had seen her doing that. Her self-esteem was already low from people making fun of her weight.

"Well, Pete and I were wondering if you could help us with algebra notes." Chloe said as she waved her little red notepad, with Pete nodding beside her with a smile.

"I thought Jeremiah or Clark usually helps you guys?" Jodi inquired, with her smile becoming more genuine.

"We felt bad about always asking Jeremiah for help, and Clark is busy helping the birthday girl." Pete said with a chuckle.

"We'll even buy you lunch." Chloe bribed with a smile.

"I'm actually on a diet. I'll still help you guys though." Jodi said as she finished packing up her stuff.

A little bit later, the three could be seen standing in one of the halls near the lockers, with Chloe and Pete watching as Jodi drank a health smoothie.

"That looks, uh... appetizing." Pete said, seeing some chunky bits mixed in with the dark green liquid Jodi was pouring into the top of a thermos.

"Losing weight is never pretty." Jodi said with a smile, before she began drinking the veggie shake.

"Hey, Ross. We're getting a little game together. You want in, or do you wanna keep whale watching?" A boy said from behind Jodi as he held a basketball in his hands, while another boy that was with him laughed at the insult to Jodi.

"Justin, back off." Pete said with a frown.

"Ooh, chill out, cool guy. I didn't know you were a chubby chaser." Justin said as he bounced the ball on the ground towards Jodi, making the shake in her thermos come splashing out onto her, while a little bit of it also got on Chloe.

"Man, you'd think someone that big would have thicker skin." Justin said as he and his friend laughed, before Pete threw the basketball at his head.

"You'd think someone so stupid would have a thicker head." Chloe said with a glare, before she and Pete turned and walked away, while Justin scoffed and did the same.

As Justin and his friend were walking down the hallway, they both suddenly stopped in their tracks, before they both reached down and pulled their pants down, making students gasp and laugh when they saw that the two were wearing tighty whities, before they were both called to the principal's office.

[ With Chloe ]

Walking out of the bathroom with a sigh, Chloe looked up in surprise when she saw Jeremiah leaning against the wall across the hall with his hands in his pockets, apparently waiting for her.

"Jodi is fine. Pete's comforting her." Jeremiah said as Chloe walked over and joined him in leaning against the wall.

"Those guys are jerks." Chloe said with a frown as she folded her arms, with Jeremiah just humming in response.

"Come on. Let's go get lunch." Jeremiah said after a few moments of silence, as he tapped Chloe on the head and began walking away.

"I could use a change of clothes." Chloe said once she caught up with Jeremiah.

"We'll stop by your house." Jeremiah replied, getting a smile from Chloe as they exited the school and headed to his car.

[ Next Day ]

"Clark, I'm telling you, this is good news for you." Pete said as he walked with Chloe, Jeremiah, and Clark through a field in front of the school.

"Kansas State gives Whitney a full scholarship, and Lana kisses him. How is that good news?" Clark asked skeptically.

"Even I'm having trouble understanding your logic, Pete." Chloe said with a bit of confusion.

"If Whitney's gone, then that would mean Lana had no date for her big night." Jeremiah explained, with Pete nodding.

"Hi, Pete." A familiar voice came from behind them, getting them all to turn around and see Jodi sitting at a picnic table, and they all noticed that she looked much slimmer than she did yesterday.

"Jodi? You look...." Pete trailed off as he looked Jodi up and down.

"Thinner?" Jodi finished for him with a smile, getting a slow nod in return.

"I was still looking for a euphemism, but yeah." Chloe said with a confused frown as she and Clark walked closer to Jodi.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked in concern.

"Never better. My diet is starting to pay off." Jodi responded with a smile, possibly the happiest any of them had ever seen her.

While this was going on, Jeremiah discretely reached into his jacket and pulled out a small device, before he placed on his right ear.

'Cortana, I need you to ran a scan of Jodi's body.' Jeremiah said telepathically to his loyal AI.

'Understood, Master.' Cortana responded, before the small gold X on Jeremiah's ring briefly glowed for about half a second.

'Done. She's been effected by kryptonite in her digestive system, which caused her to lose body fat much faster than normal, with it still slowly happening as we speak.' Cortana reported, getting a sigh from Jeremiah. In the end, it always came back to kryptonite.

'I see. Thank you, Cortana.' Jeremiah said as he cut the link. He would make sure to help Jodi with her problem, before she could hurt herself or anyone else, especially since she had just worked up the courage to ask Pete to Lana's party.

[ Two Days Later - Luthor Mansion ]

It was finally the day of Lana's party, and, as she expected, it didn't really feel like a party meant for her. As she looked around the room that they were in, she couldn't even count on both hands the number of people that she barely knew, and even that was only really thanks to Smallville being such a small town.

She loved Nell, she really did, but sometimes Lana couldn't help getting annoyed with her. She had stated multiple times in the months and weeks leading up to her birthday that she just wanted something simple, yet Nell insisted on throwing a fancy party like this, and at Lex's mansion, of all places.

This wasn't what Lana wanted. Not at all. Like she'd told Clark a couple days prior, she just wanted to hang out with her friends, eat pizza, and listen to loud music. Sadly, it wasn't to be.

It wasn't all bad though, Lana mused to herself as she and Clark sat with Pete and Jodi at a table.

"This is a really nice party, Lana." Jodi said with a smile, one that was mirrored by Pete.

Jodi was wearing a shoulderless red dress that hugged her body tightly, a silver necklace, silver earrings that dangled from her lobes, a pair of red high heeled shoes, cherry red lipstick, and had her hair done in a low ponytail with two curly bangs framing her face, while Pete had on a black sports jacket, a white button up shirt with the top button left undone, black slacks, and black formal shoes.

"See, Lana? It's not that bad, right?" Clark asked, also smiling as he tried to raise Lana's spirits.

Clark was dressed pretty similar to Pete, with the only real difference being that he had on a blue button up shirt, and a pair of brown shoes, while Lana was wearing a light purple dress, a silver necklace, and black high heeled shoes.

"Seriously, I don't think I've even heard of some of this food before." Pete added to the conversation as they all ate the fancy food.

As Lana was about to speak, she paused when she heard whispers and murmurs coming from all over the room, and as she turned around with a curious frown, her eyes widened when she saw what all the commotion was about.

She had not expected Jeremiah to show up.

[ With Jeremiah ]

"Wow." Chloe said as she entered the the room full of guests, with Jeremiah by her side.

As Jeremiah was looking around the room, he stopped when his eyes landed on Nell, who was walking over to him and Chloe.

"It's good to see you, Nell. You look as beautiful as ever." Jeremiah said as he gently grabbed Nell's hand and placed a soft kiss on it, drawing a pretty smile and blush from her, which she quickly did her best to cover up.

"I'm glad you came. Both of you." Nell added as she turned to Chloe and greeted her with a smile, ignoring the knot of jealousy in her stomach. She couldn't allow herself to have those feelings.

"Oh, there's the birthday girl." Chloe said as she spotted Lana and the others sitting at a table.

"Well, I won't hold you two up. Have fun." Nell said with a smile, before she walked away, releasing a deep breath once she got a good distance away from Jeremiah.

"Happy birthday, Lana." Chloe said once she and Jeremiah reached Lana and the others.

"Here." Jeremiah said as he held out a bouquet of lilac flowers.

"You remembered." Lana said quietly with a smile as she grabbed the flowers. Lilacs were her favorite flowers.

As Jeremiah and Chloe sat down at the table, he caught sight of Jodi giving him a grateful look, and he just gave her a discrete nod in return.

The reason Jodi was grateful, was because Jeremiah had helped her with her cravings two days ago, and she had been fine since. The recipe he had given her for special protein bars was working wonders.

"Your aunt really went all out, huh?" Chloe asked while looking at all of the decorations around the room.

"Yup. She's been looking forward to this for a while." Lana replied as she looked over at Nell, who was currently mingling with some of the guests.

"Not you though." Jeremiah said as he poured himself and Chloe a glass of punch.

"I just... don't really feel like this is me." Lana said with a sigh. She didn't mean to sound ungrateful for all the work Nell put in for this party to be a success, and it's not like she just didn't like fancy things, but she felt kind of overwhelmed by all of it. She was only 15 after all. It didn't help that she had never really liked celebrating her birthday after her parents died.

Wanting to cheer Lana up, Clark placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, getting her to turn and give him a thankful smile, before she looked at the other four sitting at the table.

She may not have pizza or loud music, but at least she had friends to share this night with.

[ Two Weeks Later ]

"Okay, I left the number of our hotel on the nightstand. I think that's everything." Martha said to Clark, who was eating a slice of pizza, while also holding up the back of Jonathan's pickup truck.

"That should do it." Jonathan said, getting a nod from Clark as he put the track back down.

"I'm definitely raising your allowance." Jonathan said with a chuckle, getting a smile from Clark.

"If you need anything-"

"Call. Mom, it's a couple of nights in Metropolis. I'll be fine." Clark cut Martha off with a smile. Really, she was worrying too much.

"He'll be fine, Madame, and soon, so too shall we be." Jonathan said, smiling as he opened the passenger door for his wife.

"Oh, almost forgot." Clark said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a white envelope.

"Happy anniversary." Clark said as she handed the envelope to Martha, getting a smile and hug from her in return, before the married couple got in the truck and left a few moments later.

Not long later, Pete and Chloe arrived at the farm, before the three of them walked together to their bus stop.

"So, what are you gonna do now that you're officially home alone?" Pete asked.

"I'm thinking of having a few people over." Clark responded.

"Do my ears deceive me, or is Clark Kent actually suggesting throwing a party?" Chloe asked as she turned to Clark.

"It's just a small gathering. You guys, Jeremiah, a few other people... maybe Lana..." Clark said, just as the bus pulled up.

Smiling, Chloe turn around and began walking backwards as she asked, "With or without her postal, action figure boyfriend?"

Ignoring that, Clark said "8:00. And remember, the keyword is SMALL." He emphasised as they got on the bus.

[ Later That Night ]

It was now time for the 'small gathering' at Clark's house, and Chloe was currently in the car with Jeremiah as they made their way to the farm.

As they pulled up to the farm, Chloe shook her head and laughed when she saw how many people were there.

Getting out of the car, Jeremiah walked around to Chloe's side and opened the door for her, with her smiling as she stepped out.

"So much for a small gathering." Chloe said as she walked with Jeremiah to go inside the house.

Jeremiah was about to respond, but suddenly stopped walking and turned his head to the side with his sharp eyes narrowed, before he let out a quiet sigh.

"Actually, Chloe, there's something I need to go take care of." Jeremiah said, getting Chloe to turn around.

"So suddenly?" Chloe asked with a frown.

"Yeah. I should be back soon." Jeremiah said as he rubbed Chloe's head, before turning around and walking back to his car.

Looks like his 'shift' was starting earlier than usual.

[ Next Day ]

Arriving at LuthorCorp, the students that were here for their field trip all walked up to the man waiting for them, who was none other than Chloe's dad.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Gabe Sullivan, plant manager and proud father. Hi, sweetheart." Gabe said, smiling at the end as he waved at Chloe.

"Hi, Dad." Chloe said embarrasedly as she stood behind Jeremiah.

"Welcome to LuthorCorp, where we give a crap." Gabe joked, getting a groan from Chloe as she heard some of the students laugh.

"Please kill me now." Chloe whispered to Jeremiah.

"A little fertilizer humor there... Alright, before we go inside, I need everyone to remove their cell phones, pagers, jewellery, anything that jangles, dangles, or rings, to go inside these plastic trays right here." Gabe said as he held up one of the mentioned trays in the air for all of the students to see, and they all began doing as requested.

As for Jeremiah, rather than take his ring off, he simply used its cloaking feature to make it invisible. It was important to him, as it was basically like a set of eyes for Cortana. While he could just have her hack into a satellite or something, it was much more convenient to just wear the ring. He also activated the cloaking feature on the small device that let him telepathically speak with Cortana. He did, however, take off the necklace he was wearing.

"Alright, any questions?" Gabe asked, and nodded at Clark when he saw him raise his hand.

"I heard there was a third level to the plant. Is that true?" Clark asked as he lowered his hand. 

During the party last night, a Kent family friend and former employee, a man by the name of Earl Jenkins, had been found hiding in the barn, rambling about how LuthorCorp had done something to him, before his body had begun shivering/vibrating like crazy, which led to Clark having an ambulance take him to the hospital. Earl kept saying that it had something to do with an explosion on level 3.

"Yeah. That's where we do the alien autopsies." Gabe joked, getting a sigh from Clark.

"Alright, follow me. Make sure you guys stick together." Gabe said as he began walking down the hall, with the group of students following closely behind him.

While this was happening, an African-American man in a gray sport jacket, a white button up that had thin blue stripes, blue jeans, and brown shoes was walking down a different hall on level 2 in LuthorCorp, constantly looking around to make sure the hall was still empty. This was Earl Jenkins.

As Earl reached a door at the end of a hall, he brought his slightly shaking hand to the doorknob and opened the door, which was thankfully (for him) unlocked.

"No..." Earl whispered as he walked up to a wall in the small room and began running his hands over it, before smacked it as he let out a sound of frustration.

"This can't be happening, this can't be happening, this can't be happening!" Upset, Earl began trashing the room. There was supposed to be an elevator in this room!

[ Back With The Students ]

"Wacth out for these babies. 260°, they get hot!" Gabe said as he pointed at a white pipe. While the class was walking past it, Clark stopped when he saw a door slightly ajar that had a sign on it that read 'Authorized Personnel Only', and after making sure nobody was looking at him, he ran over to it with his super speed before it could close.

"This is it! The plant's mission control. 100,000 tons of animal waste to process here every year. Trust me, the results can be pretty explosive. So, if any of you had beans for lunch, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave." Gabe joked again, getting another embarrassed groan from Chloe as some students actually laughed at that.

"Among his peers, he's considered witty." Chloe said to Jeremiah and Pete, with the latter chuckling, before he noticed a certain person missing.

"Where's Clark?" Pete asked while looking around the group of students.

"He had to take care of something." Jeremiah said with a somewhat bored look on his face as he stood with his hands in his pockets. He had, of course, noticed when Clark seperated from the group, no doubt trying to find something about level 3.

Before Chloe or Pete could respond, everyone heard metal rattling and clanking, and as they turned, they could see that it was coming from a door on the other side of the room.

Frowning, Gabe walked over to the door to see what was going on, only for it to be roughly pushed open, and, before he could react, none other than Earl walked inside holding a gun, which he held against Gabe's head as he shouted for nobody to move.

"Take me to level 3. Now!" Earl shouted, making Chloe panic as he pulled Gabe closer to him.

[ Outside - A Little While Later ]

Multiple police cars, SWAT, news crews, and a crowd of angry parents could be seen outside of LuthorCorp, with Jonathan and Martha Kent standing at the front. They had all arrived a little bit ago after receiving news that there were students being held hostage inside the building.

The crowd was forced to part when none other than Lex Luthor pulled up in one of his many cars, with the tall fence opening for him. Getting out of his car, Lex walked back over to the fence, and had security let the Kents inside.

"Alright, what's going on here?" Jonathan asked as the three walked over to an area where the feeds from the cameras inside the building were seen on monitors.

"There's a lunatic inside, demanding to be taken to some place called level 3. We've managed to evacuate the plant, but he's taken the students hostage.

"Is anyone hurt?" Martha asked in concern.

"Not yet." Lex responded grimly.

"What's his name?" Jonathan asked.

"Earl Jenkins." Lex answered, getting a sigh from Jonathan.

"I know Earl Jenkins. He used to work for us." Jonathan said with with a mixture of emotions.

"Well, what's he doing in my plant?" Lex asked.

"He claims that LuthorCorp is doing some crop experiments on some secret level 3, and that's what made him sick. He's convinced that it's the only place he can get a cure." Jonathan answered as best as he could.

"Then we've got a serious problem, because there is no level 3." Lex said, getting another sigh from Jonathan as they all looked at the monitors.

"Where's Clark?" Martha asked, not seeing her son amongst the group of students.

[ Inside LuthorCorp ]

"I swear, I don't know anything about any level 3!" Gabe exclaimed as Earl made him sit in a chair.

"You're lying." Earl practically growled, only for another voice to interject.

"He's not lying!" Clark shouted as he walked in holding to long pieces of rolled up paper in his hands.

'Finally.' Jeremiah thought to himself as he sat on the floor next to Chloe. He could have ended this whole situation as soon as it started, but he was interested in seeing what Clark would do.

"I found these blueprints. There is no level 3." Clark said while holding out the blueprints, which Earl snatched from him when he was close enough.

"Every night, I go down to level 2, follow the red pipes down that long hallway, go to the door, I open it, and I take the elevator down to level 3!" Earl shouted towards the end, frustrated that level 3 wasn't listed on the blueprints.

Walking back over to Clark with a frown, Earl said "You're just like everybody else. Get over there and sit down!" He shouted while pointing at the group of scared students.

A little while later, the phone next to Gabe began ringing, and after picking it up, he informed Earl that it was Lionel Luthor, before he put the phone on speaker.

"Mr. Luthor. Finally got your attention, haven't I?" Earl asked rhetorically as he walkes closer to the phone.

"Earl, why don't you come out? We've got a lot to talk about." Lionel's voice came from the other side of the line.

"Just tell me what you were using down on level 3." Earl said while glaring at the phone.

"You're sick, Earl. Let everyone go, and we'll get you help." Lionel said, only for Earl's body to start intensely vibrating again, and he grabbed a valve to try to balance himself.

Standing up, Clark walked over to Earl to try to help him, only for Earl to accidentally pull the valve off the wall with how much his body was shaking, and hit Clark in the face with it, sending him flying back on the ground to where the other students were.

"Oh no..." Earl whispered, seeing the label that read 'METHANE' where the valve was at.

"We need to do something." Whitney whispered to the students near him, those being Clark, Jeremiah, Chloe, Pete, and Lana.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Clark said, still on the ground. Any time he got near Earl, it felt made him feel sick, much like the meteor rocks.

"The man's nuts. He's not listening to the cops, and that methane gas is gonna blow." Whitney said out, getting Clark to turn to him.

"He's sick, but he's still strong." Clark pointed out.

"Whitney, I don't want you to get hurt." Lana said as she turned to her boyfriend.

"I'm not putting my life in that man's hands." Whitney said, referring to Lionel. "Two of us should be able to take him. How 'bout it, Clark?"

"....I can't." Clark responded after a few seconds of silence, turning away from Whitney as he did so, with Jeremiah letting out a quiet sigh when he heard that.

"It's okay." Lana said to Clark after another few tense seconds of silence.

As Whitney was about to stand up, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, and turned to see Jeremiah.

"I'll take care of this." Jeremiah said as he stood up and let out another quiet sigh, ignoring the concerned looks sent his way as he casually walked up to Earl with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Earl." Jeremiah said as he stopped a few feet away from the man.

"You stay back!" Earl shouted as he shakily held up his gun.

"Listen, Earl, why don't you give me the gun? Lionel Luthor won't care that you're holding a random group of high school students hostage. Just give me the gun, and I'll help you find level 3." Jeremiah said as he took one of his hands out of his pocket and held it out.

"And how are you gonna do that?" Earl asked with an unsure frown, still aiming the gun at Jeremiah, who looked nonplussed.

"I'm a pretty smart guy. In fact, speaking objectively, I'm pretty sure I'm what most people would consider a genius, not that I care much for the title. What do you say, Earl?" Jeremiah asked, still holding his hand out.

Earl silently stared at Jeremiah for about 30 seconds, as if he was trying to detect any lies, before he slowly walked up to him and handed him the gun.

"Go on, Gabe. Take Chloe and the others, and get out of here. I'll be out soon." Jeremiah said as he gestured with his head to the group of students, while quickly and expertly dismantling the pistol in his hands.

[ Outside ]

"Oh, thank goodness." Martha said as she sighed in relief, with her and Jonathan sharing a hug.

'You've gotta be kidding me.' Lex thought, flabbergasted at how easily the situation had been handled. He had actually been about to go in there himself, but apparently there was no need.

After meeting Jeremiah that night in that cornfield, Lex had run into him a few more times around town, mostly at the Beanery, but hadn't really learned much about him, due to how short their interactions usually were. He had eventually decided to do some research on him, and had been surprised to see that Jeremiah had never gotten less than a perfect score on any assignment, no matter the subject, which was something not even Lex could boast. He was definitely one of the most interesting people that Lex had ever come across, especially in Smallville, and he would love to see just how smart Jeremiah really was.

"Tell me, who is that young man?" Lionel asked as he stared at the monitor with interest.

"The one that saved our kids." Jonathan answered curtly. He did not trust the Luthors one bit, especially Lionel, and he would be damned if he let that monster in human skin interfere with Jeremiah's life.

Before anyone could say anything else, the hostages all came running outside, but Lionel just continued staring at the monitors.

[ Inside ]

'Sir, the gas pressure in the building is dropping.' Cortana said, making him let out yet another sigh.

'That brat... Thanks for the report, Cortana.' Jeremiah responded telepathically, before he closed the link. Even after he'd told Clark to just leave with the rest of the group...

Once they reached their destination, Jeremiah could see a large hole in the wall, which he had no doubt Clark was responsible for.

"There! You see?! An elevator!" Earl exclaimed, and there was indeed an elevator on the other side of the hole. Not wanting to waste any more time, especially since the police were probably gonna storm the building now that he was unarmed, Earl gripped Jeremiah's arm and pulled him into the elevator.

After Earl pushed a secret button in the elevator, it was a silent ride down, save for Jeremiah humming a tune.

When the elevator opened again, the two found themselves in a large room room, almost looking like a factory, but it was pretty much empty, with only a few barrels on the ground.

'Cortana?'

'There was definitely something here, Master. A scan of the room showed a faint trace of chemicals in the air, including a gaseous form of kryptonite.' Cortana informed Jeremiah, with him humming at the report. Well, he had already known that something had been here from reading Earl's memories. That was the whole reason he was even doing this. Otherwise, he would've just knocked him out and ended this much quicker.

As Earl began screaming in frustration at everything being gone, Clark's voice suddenly rang out.

"Earl! Let's go back upstairs and talk about this." Clark said from near the elevator.

"It's all gone, Clark. How am I supposed to get better, if I don't know what what poisoned me?" Earl asked in despair.

As Earl's body began violently shaking again, Clark's eyes widened when he saw the bridge they were standing on was about to fall, and was about to run over to Earl to try to get him to stop, only to blink when the man suddenly passed out.

As Clark ran over to check on Earl, he watched as Jeremiah stood up and reached into his jacket, before he pulled out his phone.

"What do you think's gonna happen now?" Clark asked with concern.

Jeremiah briefly glanced at Clark, before replying "No need to worry, Clark. I'm sure he'll be just fine."

A little while later, Jeremiah and Clark reached the top floor, with both of them carrying Earl's unconscious body, and they were immediately met escorted outside by SWAT.

Once they got outside, Clark was pulled into a hug by his parents, and Earl was headed to a hospital. As for Jeremiah, he was walking over to the Luthors, after waving off the thanks from the Kents.

"Yo." He said casually once he reached them, getting both of their attention as they turned to him.

"Ah, the young man who ended the hostage situation. Lionel Luthor, and you are?" Lionel asked as he held out his hand for a shake.

Jeremiah just glanced down at the appendage, before he looked back at Lionel's face and replied easily "No one of consequence."

"Oh, I doubt that. I doubt that very much." Lionel continued on with a 'pleasant' smile as he put his hand back down, with Jeremiah just giving a short hum in response as he turned to Lex.

"I've got something for you to see." Jeremiah said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket, with both Luthors looking curiously at the design of it. (It looks like a jet black Huawei P30 pro, and had a black case with a gold X on the back of it.)

"Take a look at this." Jeremiah said as he showed Lex multiple pictures and a video of level 3.

Turning to his father with a frown, Lex said "You said level 3 didn't exist."

"No, I said it wasn't on any plans. Plausible deniability." Lionel whispered as he pulled Lex close, with Lex glaring at him in response.

"Right... Well, I'll leave you two to it. Remember to smile." Jeremiah said as he walked away, just as the news crews bombarded Lex and Lionel.

As he was walking, Jeremiah smiled as Chloe ran up to him and tightly hugged him.

[ One Month Later ]

"How did this happen, Clark?" Jeremiah asked as he sat in a hospital room in Smallville Medical, with the person lying on the bed being none other than Chloe. She had a dark bruise around her left eye, her left arm was in a cast, and she had a few other minor scratches.

"I was too late. One of the guys that broke into Lex's mansion threw her out of a window. I tried to get to her, but I didn't make it in time." Clark said with guilt, feeling like he should've been able to stop this. What good were all of his powers if he couldn't even save the people he cared about?

Putting a hand over his face, Jeremiah let out a sigh. Chloe could have died. If she had fallen just a little differently, she could have died. Just like that, she would have been gone from his life. While he did have high level healing magic and technology, not even he had the power to bring someone back to life. It was something he simply never had any interest in learning, since he firmly believed that the dead should be allowed their peace.

"You said that they had masks, but did they have anything else that you could use to identify them?" Jeremiah asked, still with his hand over his face.

"Um... No. No, I don't remember anything." Clark said as he shook his head.

Jeremiah removed his hand from his face and stared at Clark for about ten seconds.

"I see." He said as he stood up from his seat, getting Clark's attention as he put his jacket on.

"You're leaving?" Clark asked with some surprise in his voice.

"I have business to take care of. I'll be back before she wakes up." Jeremiah said as he leaned down placed a kiss on Chloe's cheek, before he left the room, patting Clark's shoulder as he went.

'Shall I begin the investigation, Master?'

'Please do.' Jeremiah responded telepathically with a fierce look in his sharp eyes.

He would show what happens when you touched what was his.

[ Next Night ]

"Whoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Whitney yelled over the sounds of loud rock music, before he picked up a glass of beer and clanked it with the two guys sitting across from him. One of the guys had short hair that was dirty blonde and somewhat shaggy, while the other guy had a buzz cut.

They were in a loft that had graffiti all over the walls, neon lights hung up around the room, many bottles of liquor, bongs, pretty women, etc.

"Come on. Let me give you the tour, bro." A guy with short black hair, wearing a gray tank top said as he walked up to Whitney.

"This place is awesome." Whitney said as he looked around with a smile.

"Glad we could bring you on, Fordman. There's always room for talented guys like yourself." The guy wearing the tank top responded.

"Why do you want to help me?" Whitney asked curiously. While these guys did seem pretty cool, he didn't really understand what they were trying to do. When he'd been at work, they had recognized him from Smallville High's football team, and had asked if he would be going pro, which he wouldn't, seeing as he'd lost his scholarship. Apparently, they'd all gone through similar things, which was the main reason he was hanging out with them. They could relate.

"Guys like us gotta stick together. I thought my life was over after football didn't pan out, but I realized it was only just beginning." Tank top said, just as a woman walked over with a lime in her mouth and a glass of liquor in her hand, which he took and drank, before they engaged in a kiss, exchanging the lime between their mouths.

"Trust me, bro. It only gets better from there." Tank top guy said after he and the woman broke apart, with him and Whitney staring as she walked away.

"Lebt me show you where the real party is." Tank top said, with Whitney following him to a set of metal double doors. As they walked inside, Whitney could see that the room was basically empty, save for a chair and tattoo equipment in the middle of the room.

"You ever been inked?"

"I'm not really into tattoos." Whitney replied with a chuckle.

"It's initiation, bro. Come on, first ones on the house." Tank top said as he walked up to the chair.

Before Whitney could respond, they were both startled by the sound of the doors closing, and as they turned around to see what happened, Whitney's heart practically jumped out of his chest in fright, while Tank top faired just a little better in hiding his own apprehension as he stared at the intruder, who was garbed in all black, save for the creepy white mask he had on.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tank top asked, trying to take the calm approach, but didn't receive an answer as the intruder just slowly walked up to him, completely ignoring Whitney's presence.

"You're messing with the wrong guys!" Tank top yelled this time, but flinched a bit when he felt something prick his neck. Pulling it out, he looked down and saw that it was a tiny needle.

When Tank top looked back up, he screamed when he saw the creepy mask right in front of his face, only seeing bright red orbs through the eyeholes.

As Tank top was panicking, he suddenly stopped and smirked when he remembered that he had nothing to fear. He could turn intangible after all, so he wasn't worried at all when the intruder cocked his fist back.

Which is why he was beyond shocked when he was punched with the force of a sledgehammer in his stomach, sending him flying back into the wall behind him.

"Wh- What the hell did you do?! Why isn't my power working?!" Tank top shouted, still not receiving any response.

Turning to Whitney, Tank top wheezed out "H- Hey, Fordman! How 'bout some help?!"

Whitney tried to move, but his legs were shaking so much that he could barely even stand, unable to understand why this was happening.

As Tank top was still lying on the ground in pain, he coughed when the intruder picked him up and held him in the air by his throat. Before he could even say anything, he began getting repeatedly punched in the stomach, with each one seeming to get a little stronger than the last.

The intruder didn't stop. Not when Tank top began coughing up blood, nor when two more people entered the room by going through the walls.

"What the fuck is this?!" The guy with the buzz cut yelled in alarm at the scene they just walked in on. They had tried to get in through the door, but it wouldn't open.

"Get the hell away from Wade!" The guy with shaggy hair roared as he charged at the intruder with his outstretched arm turning intangible.

Not even looking, the intruder raised his right leg and stuck it straight out to the side, before he swung it back with great force, showing off great flexibility and balance as he sent the shaggy one crashing into a wall, right next to where Whitney was standing, making him let out a startled yelp.

Apparently done with Tank top, the intruder casually tossed him to the side, before slowly turning to the one with the buzz cut.

It didn't take long before he, too, was on the ground, with blood leaking from his mouth and a number of his teeth missing, before he was knocked out with a kick to the head.

Whitney was only vaguely aware of the fact that he wet his pants when the intruder finally turned to him, before slowly walking up to him.

"W- W- Wait, man, please! I- I don't even know these guys!" Whitney pleaded as he fell to the ground.

The intruder came closer.

"I was just trying to blow off some steam after I lost my scholarship!"

Closer.

"Please!"

The intruder reached Whitney and crouched down, staring right into his eyes.

As Whitney was about to continue pleading, he was stopped when the intruder finally said something.

"Stick to football. Stay away from people like them." And with that, the intruder flicked Whitney's forehead, sending him into the land of dreams.

With them taken care of, Jeremiah stood up and walked out of the room, compelling all of the women in the loft to leave.

Walking up to a vent, Jeremiah ripped the face off of it, before he reached inside and pulled out a small disk. With that done, he then walked back to the tattoo room, grabbed Whitney, and then proceeded to leave the building, after calling the police to come get those three pieces of trash.

[ Next Morning ]

"Good morning." Jeremiah said as he saw Chloe begin to wake up.

"W- Where am I? What happened?" Chloe asked blearily as she sat up, blinking the sleepiness away. 

"The hospital. Do you remember what happened?"

"No... Wait... Yeah. Clark and I were at Lex's mansion so that I could interview him, but then these three guys came out of nowhere and started attacking us. That jerk actually threw me out a window." Chloe spoke with a frown as she recalled the events of that night.

"Well, you don't need to worry about them anymore. They were all caught last night." Jeremiah said, and Chloe smiled at that news.

"I'm glad... Hm? That's weird... I'm pretty sure there should be some kind of pain, but I feel fine-- better than fine, actually." Chloe said as she began stretching her arms.

"You're completely healed. You've actually already been cleared to leave, we just had to wait for you to wake up." Jeremiah said, getting Chloe to look at him in surprise. As she stood up, she found that she was indeed feeling great, not even a little soreness.

"How the heck did I heal so fast?" Chloe asked in amazement. While she didn't know exactly what injuries she had, she was pretty sure that it was more than just a scratch or a sprain.

"I guess you've got a guardian angel watching out for you." Jeremiah responded with a small smile as he stood up. "Anyway, I'll let you get changed. Your dad is here too, by the way. He went to the restroom."

"Got it." Chloe replied with a smile, watching as Jeremiah walked to the door, and raised an eyebrow when he stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

"Chloe."

"What's up?"

"I'm glad you're okay. You mean a lot to me." As he said this, Jeremiah turned to Chloe with a look in his eyes that she couldn't quite describe, but it was one that made her blush deeply, not that that was anything new.

"T- Thanks." Chloe stuttered, not knowing what else to say. She felt that if she said anymore, she may end up confessing her love to him, and she didn't think she was ready to do that just yet. She wasn't sure how much longer she could wait though. She'd had feelings for him for over 3 years now, and they only seemed to grow as the days went on. There was also the fact that, despite how much time they spent together, she still wasn't sure wasn't his feelings towards her were.

"Anyway, I'll leave you to it." And with that, Jeremiah left the room, with Chloe releasing a deep breath as he did.

Maybe she would gain some courage one of these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done. 
> 
> How'd you guys like it? I had intended to put more action in the chapter, but it just didn't work out that way.
> 
> Also, I'd like you guys to vote on Lex's fate. I know it's still early, but I'd like to get it out of the way now, that way I'm not scrambling to find a way to implement it down the line.
> 
> Anyway, the choices are:
> 
> A. Lex lives and joins the heroes side (something I think could have happened in canon if Clark didn't lie to him all the time). If this is chosen, he won't be made into a boy scout or anything, so don't worry about that.
> 
> B. Lex becomes evil like his canon self. Personally, while this one could potentially work, Lex would probably not survive very long, seeing as Jeremiah has no problem with killing his enemies if that's what it takes. If I didn't have Jeremiah kill him, it would be like I'm forcing Lex to stay alive, despite how evil he is, just for the sake of the plot.
> 
> C. Lex dies. If you choose this, give me suggestions on how he should be killed off.
> 
> I would also like you to vote on Jonathan's fate. Should I have Jeremiah save him, or should he die like in canon? I'm kind of on the fence, since his death seemed to be a great catalyst in Clark becoming a hero. Also, remember, if he's kept alive, it means Martha doesn't become senator, in case anyone cares about that tidbit.
> 
> Anyway, sorry that there wasn't much action this chapter, but I just couldn't find a good place to put any, and I don't like having action just for the sake of action. I prefer for it to contribute to the plot.
> 
> It doesn't help that none of these 'villain of the week' characters are a match for Jeremiah. He's leagues beyond them in experience, power, etc. (Possible light spoilers coming up) I was thinking about maybe having demons start possessing them so that he would have more of a challenge, but that could get old really fast. Also, if demons just kept getting out of Limbo, it would mean he was failing at his self appointed job (Possible spoilers end).
> 
> Oh, also, in case anyone was wondering about how Chloe's had feelings for Jeremiah for three years, when in canon they said she only moved to Smallville in 8th grade, it's because she moved their in 6th grade in this story.
> 
> With all of that said, guys, I hope you all found at least some enjoyment in this chapter.
> 
> Til next time, guys.


	5. Zero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, guys.
> 
> This chapter only covers episode 1x14, but ends with something different.
> 
> Remember, Chloe's appearance is now based on Alice Eve.
> 
> If you like the story, I'd really appreciate a review, maybe a follow and/or favorite as well. It gets kind of discouraging to see how little reviews I get, especially when I see stories with like one or two chapters have 300+ reviews, with 500+ follows and favorites, sometimes 1k+.
> 
> Anyway, not much else to say this time. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 5: Zero

"Hey" - Speaking

'Huh' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

____

"There's nothing like fifty minutes of Mr. Austin's English class to work up an appetite." Clark said, walking with Jeremiah, Chloe, and Pete through one of the school hallways.

"There's nothing like having a six page student biography due Monday to help me lose mine." Pete retorted, shaking his head as they walked up a flight of stairs.

"What, the biography part, or the fact that our fellow student subjects were randomly assigned?" Chloe asked, an oddly happy smile on her face.

"Could be worse. Maybe next time we'll have to write about more than one person." Jeremiah said, smiling a bit as Pete and Clark shuddered at the very thought of it.

"You haven't stopped smiling since we left class, Chloe. Who's your victim?" Pete asked, not wanting to stay on that subject any longer.

In response, Chloe simply turned to Jeremiah, her smile growing wider as she stared at him.

"Me?" Jeremiah asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yup." Chloe replied, practically skipping as they all continued walking down the hallway. "What about you guys?"

"Stan Gibson." Pete said with a sigh.

"The manager of the student store?" Clark asked. "Well, I hear he's very..." He trailed off, trying to find the right word.

"Efficient?" Chloe provided helpfully.

"Very funny. I'm about to learn more about the art of selling 'go pro' pendants than any human should have to endure." Pete complained with a frown.

"And you, Clark?" Chloe inquired with a curious expression, watching as he reached into the pocket of the shirt he was wearing, a smile on his face as he pulled out a small piece of paper.

"From the look on your face, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that it's Lana." Chloe said, observing the dopey smile Clark was sporting.

"Okay, this thing is definitely rigged." Pete grumbled.

"So, Jeremiah, when can I interview you?" Chloe asked, her smile resurfacing as she turned to the man in question.

"Hmm.... Well, I guess we can do it at my house. I'll pick you up later." Jeremiah replied as he walked up to his locker. Not getting a response for a few moments, he turned, and raised an eyebrow when he saw the three of them staring at him with wide eyes.

"Did I hear that right?" Pete asked, blinking owlishly as he turned to Clark.

"No way." Clark said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Is something wrong?" Jeremiah asked, giving them a sideways glance as he continued going through his locker.

"Well... None of us have ever been to your house." Chloe said, a curious/confused frown growing on her face. Come to think of it, why had none of them ever been to, or even seen Jeremiah's house before?

"First time for everything." Jeremiah said as he closed his locker, before he turned to the others. "Anyway, we should get to class."

[ A Few Hours Later ]

"You promised me everything would be ready on time." Lana said. She was currently inside of Talon, the place where her parents had met. Nell had owned the place up until recently, when she sold it to Lex, and Lana had gotten him to agree to become her business partner.

"That was before the plumbing started leaking. It hasn't been replaced in years." The general contractor informed Lana, getting a sigh from her.

"How long will that take?" She asked, looking around with a frown on her pretty face.

"Can't really say for sure until I crawl up there, and get a good look at it." He informed her, making her release another sigh. "You resurrect the past, you get the problems that come with it."

"Lex Luthor will be here later. He's going to need numbers, a time table, and a better explanation than that." Lana said with a bit of frustration in her voice, getting a nod from the contractor, before he walked away.

With another sigh, Lana turned around to go check on something else, only to be startled when she saw someone standing there.

"Sorry, but we're not open yet." She said, wondering how he even got in here without her knowing 

"I'm here about the, uh, assistant manager position. I know I'm late, but I was wondering if I could get an application." The man said.

"Sure, just let me get the application." She said, walking behind the unfinished bar and grabbing the slip of paper, which she proceeded to hand to him.

"Great. Really appreciate this, Miss...." 

"Lang. Lana Lang. Also, just to warn you, we're not taking any interviews until next week."

"That's alright. I happen to have all the time in the world. Jude Royce, by the way." Jude introduced himself, shaking hands with Lana.

"I understand that Lex Luthor has a stake in this project." Jude said, getting Lana's attention.

"Yeah, he's one of the owners. Why, do you know him?" Lana asked curiously.

"A lifetime ago in Metropolis."

"Must've been interesting." Lana replied, smiling as she grabbed a box off of the bar, and put it under the counter behind her.

"Well, let's just say, there's a reason he's in Smallville." Jude began with a sigh, getting Lana to stand and turn to him with a curious look on her face. "You wanna know my advice? Stay away from him. When Lex gets involved, things usually turn out badly." He told her with a serious expression, making Lana wonder just what could have happened.

"Just something for you to think about. Anyway, I'll take my leave now." Jude said, before he left through the front door.

Barely a few seconds after he left, the doors opened again, and Lana turned to tell the person that they weren't open yet, only for her eyes to widen with surprise when she saw that it was Jeremiah. He seemed to always show up when she least expected it.

"Jeremiah? W- What are you doing here?" She asked, watching as he walked inside with his hands in his pockets.

"Just thought I'd come check the place out." He responded, looking around the unfinished building.

"Any reason in particular?" Lana asked, walking around the bar to get closer to him.

"Just a passing interest, I suppose." Jeremiah replied, taking a hand out of his pocket and waving it dismissively. He had actually been considering buying this place, but he had been too late. Oh well.

"Anyway, are you alright? You looked kinda spooked when I came in." He asked, leaning against the wall as he looked down at her.

"Um, there was this guy in here, just before you, actually. He said I should stay away from Lex. That bad things tend to happen around him." She said, rubbing her arm nervously.

"Hmmm... So, what are you gonna do?" Jeremiah asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sighing, Lana replied, "Well, I can't just avoid him because of what someone else said. For all I know, that man could just be another person with a grudge against the Luthors."

Jeremiah simply hummed in response, the two of them falling into a comfortable silence, before Lana broke it a few moments later.

"It's funny..."

"What's that?"

"This is the longest conversation we've had in years." Lana said as she brushed some of her hair behind her ear. Her birthday party didn't count, since they hadn't really had a one-on-one conversation.

"I suppose it is."

"Did I... do something wrong?" Lana asked, her voice coming out a little watery as she looked up at him.

"You didn't do anything wrong." Jeremiah responded, closing his eyes as he let out a quiet sigh.

"Then, why did you stop talking to me?" Lana asked, her bottled up sadness finally spilling out of her. He'd been one of her closest friends, not to mention how big of a crush she had(?) on him, so it hurt quite a bit when he suddenly stopped talking to her, not counting polite greetings.

"I'm sorry that I hurt you, Lana." Jeremiah said, cupping her cheeks as he gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. 

"Although I had my reasons, I understand that it wasn't exactly fair of me. Still, Lana, just because I stopped talking to you, it doesn't mean I ever stopped caring about you. If you ever need me, I'll be there for you." He finished, giving her a small smile that made her heart flutter, before she wrapped her arms around him in a hug, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.

After finally calming down a little while later, Lana (somewhat reluctantly) pulled away from Jeremiah.

"So, when is this place supposed to be finished?" Jeremiah asked, walking around as he looked at different things.

"Um, I'm not sure, actually. I'd hoped it would be done within the next two to three days, but it looks like it's gonna take longer than that." Lana said, a sigh leaving her lips.

"Hmm... You know, I could have this done in less than a day." Jeremiah said, sitting down on the stairs.

"A day?" Lana repeated as she sat down next to him, her voice carrying a mixture of amusement and skepticism. Even for Jeremiah, renovating a building in one day didn't seem possible.

"I'm serious. If you want me to, I can have this all finished by this time tomorrow."

"You're really serious?"

"Of course. Just let me see your plans for the design. Also, you might as well fire the contractor you hired." Jeremiah said. Truthfully, the main reason he was offering to help, was because he could sense the dark aura coming from the contractor upstairs. There was also that guy that he'd passed on his way in. He didn't want to leave Lana alone with either of them, even though he could sense that their hostility wasn't aimed at her.

"An Egyptian theme?" Jeremiah asked after Lana brought him the papers.

"Is it bad?" Lana asked him, biting her lip nervously.

"Not at all." He responded, before he unzipped his backpack and stuck the papers inside.

"Jeremiah... Are you really sure that you can have all of this finished by tomorrow?" Lana asked, her voice hopeful, yet skeptical.

"Just trust me, Lana." He replied with a small smile that managed to ease her worries.

The two fell into another comfortable silence, before it was, again, broken by Lana.

"So... Do you know who's supposed to be writing about you for Mr. Austin's assignment?"

"Chloe, interestingly enough. I'm gonna go pick her up so that we can do it at my house."

"Y- Your house?" Lana parroted, blinking in shock as she tried to push down the envy she felt.

Standing up, Jeremiah said, "Yup. Speaking of Mr. Austin's assignment, I guess I should get going. Clark should be here soon." A few seconds after he said that, the double front doors opened, and in walked Clark and Lex.

"Jeremiah?" Clark said, him and Lex both surprised to see him here.

"I was just on my way out. I'll be back later tonight to do what I said, Lana." Jeremiah said, drawing curious looks from Clark and Lex.

"Okay. See you later." Lana replied with a smile, getting a nod in return.

Walking past Clark and Lex, Jeremiah gave both of them a nod, ignoring their stares as he left.

[ Two Hours Later ]

"Here we are." Jeremiah said as he turned his car off.

"So... This is your house." Chloe said as Jeremiah got out of the car, before walking around to her side and opening the door for her.

The drive from her house to his had only been about twenty minutes, yet Chloe had somehow never been to this part of Smallville, which was strange considering how small the town was. In fact, there weren't even any other houses around his, making her wonder if anyone had ever been here.

Walking inside the house after Jeremiah unlocked it, Chloe's eyes widened at the beauty of it as they walked into the living room. The house had Victorian style furniture, which was colored a beautiful mix of red, black, and cream. There was also a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the ceiling. On the wall, there was a huge flat screen TV, with a fireplace under it.

"Make yourself at home. I'll get us some snacks." Jeremiah said, gesturing for her to sit, before he turned and walked away, presumably to the kitchen.

Taking off her backpack, Chloe sat down on one of the couches in the living room, almost afraid to touch anything. This was a different feeling compared to being in Lex's mansion, where she'd had no qualms about touching anything.

"You don't need to be so stiff, Chloe." Jeremiah said a few minutes later, walking back into the room with a tray of tea and different flavored cookies.

"I can't help it. This teapot alone probably costs more than my entire house." Chloe said as she grabbed a cookie off of the tray, her eyes widening slightly at the delicious taste.

"You're exaggerating." Jeremiah deadpanned. "Anyway, why don't we get started?" He suggested after finishing his cup of tea.

"Sure." Chloe said, smiling as she pulled her paper and pen out of her backpack. "What were you like growing up?"

"Hmm... Pretty much the same as I am now. Well, not as wise, I suppose." He answered, taking a sip from his teacup.

"What about your parents?.... Actually, now that I think about it, where are your parents? I've never even met them." Chloe asked, wondering why she had never thought of this before.

"My parents don't live in Smallville." Jeremiah said, getting a surprised look from Chloe.

"Really? Where do they live?" She asked, curiosity practically oozing off of her.

With a small smile, Jeremiah simply said, "Far away."

"Well, what do they do? I mean, they must be pretty successful people if they can afford all this." She asked, getting a raised eyebrow from Jeremiah.

"My parents didn't pay for any of this. Everything you see was either built or paid for by me."

"You- what? How? What kind of job could a high schooler have that pays enough for a place like this?" Chloe asked, now thoroughly confused.

"That's a secret." He said with a smile, enjoying the way she pouted. "Now, that's enough questions for tonight, right? We can finish the rest tomorrow, seeing as we don't have school. The assignment isn't due for a few days anyway."

"I guess you're right." Chloe replied as she put her paper back in her backpack.

"Come on. I'll show you the rest of the house." Jeremiah said, holding out his hand to Chloe, who grabbed it with a smile as she stood up.

They began the tour with the first floor of the house. The first place he showed her was the home theater. It was a large room that had a red and black color scheme, extremely comfortable looking chairs, and a tv that was at least five times as big as the one in the living room. It also had a snack bar, and a mini fridge.

Next up was the game room. The room had a pool table, a foosball table, over a dozen arcade games, a dartboard on one of the walls, a large tv, and it even had two bowling lanes. There was also a bar, which had many drinks (non-alcoholic, of course) lined up on the wall behind it.

The next room he showed her was his music room. It had many different types of instruments and recording equipment.

Aside from those three rooms, there wasn't really anything else of note on the first floor, save for a den, a library, a bathroom, the dining room, the kitchen, and obviously the living room.

"So, what do you think?" Jeremiah asked as they walked upstairs.

"This place is amazing. Would it be okay if I wrote about it in my assignment?"

"I'd rather not have the entire school suddenly wanting to come to my house. Sorry." He responded, getting an understanding nod from Chloe.

"This floor is just where all of the bedrooms and my office are, so we'll be skipping this one." Jeremiah said when they reached the second floor, before he began leading her up another set of stairs.

The first room he showed her on the third floor was another library, and her eyes widened when she saw how many books there were. It had to be somewhere in the thousands, easily dwarfing the few hundred or so in the one downstairs.

The next room they went to was his meditation chamber. It was practically empty, but Chloe did see some weird looking symbols written on the walls and floor, making her raise an eyebrow.

"You must meditate pretty often if you have an entire room dedicated to it. Maybe that's why you're so calm all the time." Chloe guessed, observing the dying sunlight through the lone window in the room.

"Maybe." Jeremiah said with a bit of amusement. Meditation was a basic practice among magic users. That's not to say that all of them did it, but he personally found it beneficial in multiple ways.

The last room he showed her was an observatory, with astronomy decorations around the room.

"Aside from my lab, the pool, and the gym out back, that should be everything." Jeremiah said as they walked back downstairs. Truthfully, his house actually had a lot more to it that he hadn't shown Chloe, but that was because he had a lot of magical artifacts and other things held here, with some of them being very dangerous, especially for someone who didn't even know about magic. It would be pretty bad if her soul accidentally got pulled into a magic amulet or something.

"This really is a beautiful house, Jeremiah." Chloe said as she sat down on a couch in the living room.

"I'm glad you think so. Now, since we're done with the tour, how about we eat?" Jeremiah suggested, taking a look at his watch. It was a little after 7:30 p.m., so they should probably eat before it got too late.

"Sure." Chloe replied with a smile. "What are we eating?"

"Chinese." He said, before he grabbed the remote to the tv off of the table, and pressed the power button. "Here. You can find something to watch while I'm cooking."

About five minutes after he started cooking, Jeremiah's phone started ringing, and he wiped his hands with a towel, before he reached into his pocket and grabbed it.

"Clark?" Jeremiah said, holding his phone up to his ear with his left hand, while using the other to stir the food.

"Jeremiah?" Lana's voice came, surprising him a bit.

"Lana? What's up? I didn't forget about Talon, in case that's why you're calling."

"No, um, I was actually calling to tell you, you might wanna wait." She said, making him raise an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Some sicko left a severed hand inside of Talon, wrapped up in a gift box. I'm here right now with Clark, Lex, and the police."

"Are you alright?" He asked her, hearing the nervousness in her voice.

"I just... I can't help but think about what that guy said earlier, you know? That everything Lex gets involved with ends badly." She said with a sigh.

"Hmm... And you don't find it strange that this happened only a few hours after that guy gave you that warning?" Jeremiah asked, cracking a few eggs open and whisking them in a bowl, before pouring them into a hot pan.

"I... guess I hadn't thought about that." Lana said, frowning on the other side of the phone. Indeed, it did seem a little too coincidental, now that she thought about it. "What should I do?"

"Aside from telling Lex to watch his back, there's not much else you can do. With all of that said, you don't need to worry about the opening being delayed. I'll still come by and finish the renovations." He told her, mixing the now scrambled eggs in with the fried rice and vegetables.

"Are you sure? I-"

"It's fine. Honestly."

"...Thank you, Jeremiah." Lana said gratefully.

"Don't mention it. Now, I have to go. I'll see you later." Jeremiah said, pouring the vegetable fried rice into two bowls, before a thought occurred to him. "By the way, tell Clark to give you my number. That way, you won't have to use someone else's phone whenever you need to call me."

"Okay. Bye, Jeremiah." Lana said, sporting a happy smile on the other side of the phone.

"Bye." Jeremiah said, before he hung up, and put the phone back in his pocket.

Grabbing the two bowls, Jeremiah walked back into the living room, and Chloe smiled as he handed her one of the bowls.

"Lana just called me. She said someone delivered a severed hand to Talon." He told her as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"Oh, my God. Is she okay?" Chloe asked with concern.

"She's fine, just a little shaken up."

"This town just gets weirder and weirder." She said with a shake of her head, before she began eating the food he gave her, and she moaned as she tasted it.

As the two ate and made small talk, Jeremiah decided to ask Chloe something that had been on his mind for a while now, figuring this was a good time for it.

"There's something I've been wanting to ask you, Chloe." He said as he placed his bowl on the table in front of them, getting Chloe to look at him curiously.

"What is it?" She asked, feeling a little nervous.

"It's about your mother." He began, observing how her expression changed to one of shock. "Maybe it's not my place to ask, but I'm curious. Hypothetically, if you could find her, would you want to? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Chloe was silent for a few moments.

"I, um... I- I honestly don't know. I don't really remember that much about her, and my dad never talks about her." Chloe said, a sigh leaving her. "I guess if I had the chance, I would like to find and meet her, at least so that I could ask her why she left us."

"I see. And if I told you I could find her?" Jeremiah asked, looking Chloe right in her eyes.

"Are you serious?" She asked, her eyes wide and her heart pounding in her chest.

"I am." He responded with a serious nod.

Again, Chloe fell silent for a little while.

"Can- Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Of course."

The two finished eating around ten minutes later, and proceeded to spend the next hour or so just watching tv and making small talk, with Chloe having her legs resting on Jeremiah's, and he glanced over at her when he heard her let out a yawn.

"Tired?"

"Yeah. Guess I've got the itis." She replied jokingly, rubbing her full stomach as she let out another yawn.

Humming, Jeremiah placed one of his arms under Chloe's legs, with the other one going under her back, before he stood up, holding her in a bridal carry as he began walking upstairs.

"You don't have to carry me..." She said tiredly, her eyes half lidded.

"I don't mind." He responded, looking down at her with a small smile, and she wrapped her arms around his neck as she buried her head in his chest with a blush.

Taking Chloe into one of the guest rooms on the second floor, Jeremiah gently placed her on the soft queen sized bed.

"Goodnight, Jeremiah..." She muttered, her eyes already closing.

"Goodnight, Chloe." He whispered, watching her drift into the land of dreams. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he then stood up and left the room, silently closing the door as he exited.

With Chloe now asleep, Jeremiah created a portal in front of him, and when he stepped through, he was only a short distance away from Talon.

Walking up to the building, he used magic to unlock the front doors, before he walked inside.

'No cameras, Master.' Cortana's voice was heard in his head, getting a nod from him.

Closing his eyes, Jeremiah sat down in a lotus position, and his magic began slowly flowing out of him. After a full minute of letting the building get saturated in the powerful energy, he then brought up his left hand, and snapped his fingers.

The action created a flash of light that would have blinded anyone else if they were in the building with him, but it wasn't visible from the outside, thanks to a barrier he'd erected.

When the light died down, the interior of Talon looked different. It now looked exactly like the Egyptian theme that Lana had requested, and the plumbing had been fixed as well.

Walking around the building and observing the results of his work, Jeremiah let out a breath of relief, glad that he hadn't messed anything up. One of the innate abilities that his race was born with was limited reality warping. Despite it being limited, it was still a very hard power to control, which was why him and the rest of his race weren't supposed to use it until they reached the age of 75, which was when their powers fully matured. 

Thankfully, even though his body regressed in age when he came to this planet, his actual age hadn't been effected at all, meaning he only had just a little over ten years left until his powers fully matured.

With Talon taken care of, he then changed into his 'work' clothes, and created a portal to Limbo when he got outside, before he stepped through with a sigh.

He really didn't feel like doing this tonight.

[ Next Morning ]

Having just got out of the shower a short while ago, Chloe could be seen wearing a white t-shirt, a pair of pink short shorts, and a pair of white slippers that had bunny heads on them.

She was currently heading downstairs to get some breakfast. While cereal would be fine, she was really hoping there was some rice left over from last night.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Chloe was about to turn to go to the kitchen, but stopped when she caught sight of something in her peripheral, making her turn to the living room.

What she saw made her breath hitch, her heart race, and her eyes go wider than dinner plates.

Jeremiah was asleep in a chair, with a pair of boxers being the only piece of clothing he was wearing, allowing her to get a more than good look of his incredibly ripped body. As if that wasnt enough, there was also a huge tent in his boxers, making her gulp at the sight of it.

It wasn't until nearly five minutes later that Chloe finally broke out of her daze, and it only then occurred to her just how hot her body was feeling, along with how sweaty her palms had gotten. She had also unconsciously walked closer to him, as if to get a better look, and she quickly backed up once she realized how close she'd gotten.

Mustering up all of her willpower, Chloe turned away from the sight that was now forever burned into her mind, not knowing what she would end up doing if she kept staring any longer.

However, as Chloe turned and started walking to the kitchen, she didn't notice Jeremiah's eyes open.

Reaching the beautiful kitchen, Chloe looked on the stove, in the microwave, and in the fridge for any sign of the delicious rice from last night, but, to her dismay, there appeared to be none left.

Grabbing a bowl out of one of the cabinets, Chloe looked around to see where the cereal was at, and found it inside of a high cabinet. Standing on the tips of her toes, she began trying to grab it, with her finger only managing to barely graze the box, making her sigh.

"Chloe?" She heard Jeremiah's voice from behind her, noticing that he sounded half asleep. Before she could turn around, she felt his body body suddenly press up against hers.

"J- Jeremiah?"

"Mmm... What were you trying to get?" He asked sleepily, his chin resting on top of her head.

"T- The cereal." She stuttered, not so secretly enjoying the feeling of his body on hers.

"Oh... Let me get it." He said, and as he reached up to grab the cereal, Chloe's eyes nearly popped out of her head when she felt something very long, thick, and hard get wedged between her lower cheeks, making her entire body stiffen as she realized what it was.

"Something wrong, Chloe?"

She was unable to form a response, too shocked to even think of anything to say. It didn't help that when Jeremiah started going through the different cereals in the cabinet, his rod would slowly move up and down, and she quickly brought her hands up to her mouth to try to conceal her moans. Despite the fact that they both had clothing blocking their private areas, she still felt jolts of pleasure surging through her body, along with the heat emanating from his member. The only time she'd ever felt anything like it was during the times that she masturbated, which was fairly often.

Craning her neck to look back/up at him, she saw that he still looked half asleep, so she assumed he didn't realize what he was doing.

"Which one do you want?"

"The... The cinnamon...!" Was all she got out, before having to quickly cover her mouth again to block a moan that almost escaped her, feeling the tip of his spear poke her back entrance when it slid up again.

"Here you go." He said as he grabbed the requested box, placing it on the counter. As he backed away from her, she let out a whine at the loss of warmth.

"You didn't have to eat cereal... I was planning on cooking after getting out of the shower." Jeremiah told her, leaning against the island behind him.

"It- It's alright!" Chloe quickly said with a dark blush, too flustered to even look at him. She couldn't believe what just happened.

"If you say so... I'm gonna go take a shower." He said as he began walking away, but not before he gently ruffled her hair, only serving to make her blush even more if that was possible.

If one were to look at Jeremiah while he walked upstairs, they would see him with a small smile on his face, not looking the least bit tired.

[ Later That Morning ]

"This is..." Chloe trailed off as she stared at the dead herd on the Kent farm, all of them having died from some chemicals that were spilled on the farm from LuthorCorp barrels, which was being collected by men and women in hazmat suits.

Next to her, Jeremiah stood with narrowed eyes as he looked at the LuthorCorp barrels. That made two incidents involving Lex in just as many days.

While Chloe took out her camera and began taking photos, Jeremiah was about to walk over to Jonathan and Martha, but stopped when he heard the rumbling of an engine. As he turned, he saw Lex step out of a truck, a troubled look on his face as he saw the dead herd, before he approached the Kents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Kent... I have no idea how this could have happened, but I swear I'll do everything in my power to find out. I'll pay for your livestock, of course." Lex apologized.

"You think that's how you solve everything, don't you, Lex? Just throw some money at it, and hope the problem goes away." Jonathan said, before he turned and walked away, with Martha following behind him.

As Lex gripped the wooden fence in front of him in frustration, he noticed Clark walking towards him from the corner of his eye.

"I didn't think it was possible for me to fall any farther in your father's eyes. Clearly, I was mistaken." Lex said, letting out a sigh. It seemed like he just couldn't catch a break recently. "You know I would never intentionally let anything like this happen.

"Does this have anything to do with Club Zero?" Clark asked. There had been a card in the box that was sent to Talon last night, and on it was the name, 'Club Zero'.

Sighing, Lex said, "I think so."

"You need to inform the authorities about everything you know. This isn't just about you anymore." Clark said, before he, too, walked away.

"Mr. Luthor? The CEP guy needs to speak to you. He's over there." The sheriff said as he walked up to Lex.

Walking over to the man, Lex frowned at how far away he was from everyone else, and his heart nearly stopped when the man pulled off his shades, allowing him to fully see his face. A very familiar face.

The face of a man that was supposed to have died three years ago.

"This is a pretty bad mark on your company's environmental record." The man said with a smirk.

"I'm gonna walk over there and get the sheriff." Lex said, attempting to brush the man, only to be stopped by his hand on his chest.

"And tell them what?" The man asked. Before Lex could respond, the man took out a taser and tased him with it, before pushing him into the back of his van, and closed the door after he was inside.

Walking around to the driver door, the man opened it and got in the van, before he started the van, and began driving away.

He didn't get very far, however, as the van suddenly stopped moving forward, even though the engine and wheels were still going. With a frown, he pushed all the way down on the gas pedal, to no avail. The van wouldn't budge.

He was startled when someone knocked on the passenger side window. Trying to appear normal, he put on the best smile he could muster, and rolled down the window.

"Why don't you take a nap?" Jeremiah asked the man, having immediately recognized his aura from Talon yesterday. As expected, he'd been after Lex. He quickly scanned the man's mind to see why he was doing this, and shook his head when he found the reason. Money. Why was he not surprised?

The man was about to say something, but what came out instead was a loud yawn, a sudden feeling of sleepiness overtaking him. He tried to fight it, but it was futile. He was asleep a few seconds later, his head smacking the steering wheel as he slumped forward.

Jeremiah then walked over to where the sheriff was, tapping him on the shoulder to get his attention once he reached him.

"Jeremiah? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah. I think I saw someone get thrown into that van over there."

"What?! Are you sure?!" Sheriff Elliot asked quickly.

"Yeah." Jeremiah said with a nod. With a nod of his own, Elliot called over two other officers, before they all walked over to the van.

With a nod, Jeremiah then walked over to Chloe. The cops should be able to take it from here.

[ A Few Days Later ]

Sitting in class with a bored expression, Jeremiah let out a quiet sigh, before he placed a book over his face, and leaned back in his seat. The class had had just been given a math test, which didn't even take a minute for him to finish. 

After a few minutes of sitting there in boredom, trying to just take a nap for the rest of the class, Jeremiah suddenly jolted a bit when his senses picked up on something, getting his interest. Releasing a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and after a few seconds of concentration, his spirit was ejected from his body.

His astral form looked different than most people would probably think. Whereas most people's spirit/astral form would just look like an ethereal version of their normal self, his was still ethereal, but it didn't really look human like he usually did, aside from the shape. Instead, his 'body' took on a golden shine, while his hair turned into eight long, thick tendrils of golden energy, but at a lighter shade than his 'body'. His eyes also turned completely gold, with them being the same shade as his hair.

Since nobody else in this school was a magic user or spiritually aware, Jeremiah was able to casually fly out of the school through one of the walls, before he began heading towards what his senses picked up.

It took longer than it would take if he'd been his physical body, but he eventually reached his destination after about fifteen minutes of flying. As he flew into the city, he passed a sign that read:

'Amity Park - A nice place to live!'

After some more flying, Jeremiah finally found what his senses had been leading him to raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the scene in front of him.

A young man, looking to be maybe fourteen at the most, was battling what Jeremiah easily recognized as a ghost.

The young teenager had white hair, green eyes, a skinny build, and looked to be around 5'6. He was wearing a tight, black jumpsuit, that had white gloves, white boots, a white belt, and a white collar. There was also a white 'D' on the chest.

Looking at the white haired teenager, Jeremiah frowned in confusion at what he felt from him. It was like he was a ghost, yet human at the same time. Maybe a ghost possessed a human body and got pregnant/got someone pregnant?

As the young man finally defeated the ghost, Jeremiah watched in interest as he pulled out a device that looked like a thermos, before the ghost was sucked into it.

With his interest grabbed, Jeremiah began approaching the young man to talk to him, only to stop when the white haired teenager suddenly turned to him with wide eyes, before he began flying at him with his fists coated in energy, apparently mistaking him for another ghost.

Jeremiah let out a sigh. Well, at least this would let him see more of what the white haired teenager could do.

Still, he would have liked to at least exchange names first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done.
> 
> I should have finished this chapter days ago if I'm being honest, but I kept getting stuck on if I should add more episodes or not.
> 
> Moving on, I'm gonna start adding more original stuff from here on out. Not sure about everything I'll change/add just yet, but I'll figure it all out. Honestly, this story would be much easier to write if I had just replaced Clark with Jeremiah, but whatever.
> 
> Now, as you all saw at the end, Danny Phantom will be part of the story. I'm considering changing Danny to Dani, and adding her to the harem, but I probably won't. I guess I'll let you all decide.
> 
> I'm also thinking about having Lana be paired with Jeremiah, while introducing Alicia early for Clark. If so, I would have Jeremiah fix her mind first. Let me know what you guys think about this. The only problem I see with it is, I would probably have to come up with a reason for Clark and Alicia to eventually break up, so that he can be with Lois. I just don't like how she (Alicia) was killed in canon.
> 
> Also, I gave some pretty strong hints about Jeremiah's race in this chapter. I don't doubt that at least one person will correctly guess it. Then again, I barely get any reviews, so I probably won't know, even if someone did guess it.
> 
> Hmm... I think that's all for now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you did, how about leaving a review? I always enjoy reading through them.
> 
> If you've got any tips, questions, or suggestions for the story, feel free to either leave it in a review or PM me.
> 
> Til next time, guys.


	6. Nicodemus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo.
> 
> Sorry it's taken me so long to get this out guys. Long story short, my internet was messed up for a while, so I had to get my boxes and cords replaced. It was so bad, that it was literally shutting off every other day.
> 
> Also, as a reminder, Chloe's appearance is now based on Alice Eve. This is probably the last time I'll be saying this.
> 
> Anyway, I won't hold you guys up anymore. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 6: Nicodemus

"Hey" - Speaking

'Hm?' - Mental

[ ] - Scene/POV Change

* * *

The moment the white haired boy reached him, Jeremiah had to begin dodging a series of attacks. As he was doing this, he couldn't help but notice how sloppy the boy's attacks were. This was made evident by the fact that, despite Jeremiah being much weaker in his astral form, he had still not been hit yet.

"I don't know how long you've been here, but you're looking at a one way ticket back to the ghost zone!" The white haired boy shouted, just as Jeremiah dodged a a green energy blast.

'The ghost zone?' Jeremiah thought, slightly confused. He had dealt with ghosts before, but he'd never heard of such a place.

Suddenly, the white haired boy frowned and flew back, before he pulled out that thermos looking device again, and Jeremiah's eyes narrowed as he saw it. While that would be normally be no problem for him, he was pretty sure that it would be able to pull him in his astral form. Obviously, that was not something he would allow to happen.

Before the boy could react, Jeremiah quickly closed the distance between them, and gave an axe kick to the boy's shoulder, sending him flying towards the ground, making him drop the thermos as he landed in an alley.

"Now, as I was trying to say while you were attacking me, I'm not a ghost." Jeremiah said as he descended to the alley where the boy was at, making sure to stay between him and the thermos that was on the ground.

"Yeah, right. I may be new to this, but you're obviously a ghost. What else could possibly look like that?" The boy asked, frowning as he looked up at Jeremiah from his position on the ground.

"If you think ghosts are the only supernatural creatures out there, then you're sorely mistaken." Jeremiah answered, before he held out his hand for the boy to grab. "Now then, why don't we talk?"

The boy just stared at him for a few seconds, before he finally accepted the hand, allowing Jeremiah to help him up.

"I'm Jeremiah. And you are?"

"...Danny. Danny Phantom."

* * *

[ Two Days Later ]

"What is your deepest desire?" Chloe asked Jeremiah, sitting next to him on one of the staircases in Smallville High, holding an ice cream cone in her hand. As they often did, the two had left school for lunch, and only just got back a little while ago, with about 15 minutes to spare.

"Is this for a paper?" Jeremiah asked, drinking a bottle of tea.

"Principal Kwan thinks that I need to get more in touch with the 'pulse' of the student body, so I've decided to do a poll." She began, before pausing to take a lick of her ice cream. "So, I ask again, what is your deepest desire? If nothing was holding you back, what would you do?"

'Deepest desire, huh?' Jeremiah thought to himself, wondering how he should answer. In his 50+ years of living up until now, he could honestly say that he's had a pretty fulfilling life, especially if he was comparing himself to most humans. On top of that, he already lived doing pretty much whatever he wanted, which was to be expected, considering that his people were known for being extremely care free. Of course, that's not to say that he had a perfect life. He's dealt with his own hardships over the years, and he had no doubt that more would come in the future.

"Jeremiah?" Chloe said with a concerned tone, watching as he seemed to lose himself in his thoughts for a little while.

"Ah... Sorry, Chloe. Can I get back to you on that?"

What did he desire?

"Sure." She replied with a smile. She was glad that he was actually putting some thought into it, as opposed to the many other students who gave her sex or violence related answers. However, she frowned in concern when he seemed to get lost in his thoughts again.

"Is everything alright, Jeremiah?" She asked, placing a hand on his arm.

"I'm fine... Oh, your ice cream is melting." He said, making her groan as she saw it begin to run down her hand. She'd been so caught up staring at Jeremiah, that she forgot she was even holding the ice cream cone.

"Shoot." She said, rummaging through her purse for a napkin, only to blink and look at Jeremiah when he grabbed her hand.

"Allow me." He said, bringing her hand up to his face, before he began slowly licking the ice cream off of her, closing his eyes as he did so.

She could swear that her heart stopped.

'Wh- What is this?' Chloe wondered, feeling herself get unbelievably turned on from his actions, to the point that she could feel herself getting wetter and wetter the more he licked. She nearly let out a squealing moan when he he began sucking on two of her fingers, but managed to just barely suppress it by biting down on a knuckle from her free hand.

'N- No way! I- I'm- I'm-!' Eyes widening in disbelief, Chloe's body shook as she experienced a powerful orgasm, and she almost drew blood with how hard she had to bite down on her knuckle to suppress her moan, and even then, some sound still escaped her.

"There. Looks like I got all of it." Jeremiah said, releasing her hand as he opened his eyes.

Panting like she'd just run a marathon, Chloe stared at Jeremiah with wide, disbelieving eyes. How could having her hand licked feel better than masturbating?

Looking around, she saw a few students walking by, with a few giving them thumbs up or catcalls, while the girls all gave her looks of jealousy, not that that was really anything new. The majority of girls in the school always seemed jealous of her for being so close to Jeremiah.

A distance away from the two, Lana looked on with a frown, unconsciously balling her hand into a fist, before she turned and walked away.

"Well, I guess we should get to class." Jeremiah said as he stood up, with Chloe shakily doing the same, blushing the entire time as she followed behind him, her mind racing the whole way.

If it felt that good to have him lick her hand... What would it be like if he licked her more sensitive areas?

'I need a new pair of panties.'

* * *

[ Next Day ]

A whole day later, Jeremiah found himself troubled as he leaned against his locker. No matter what he did, he just couldn't seem to get Chloe's question off of his mind. Not even a night of fun with Annie had been able to clear his mind.

_What is your deepest desire?_

Why on Earth did she have to ask such a troublesome question?

He was so lost in his thoughts that, for the first time in what was probably years, he didn't even realize someone had been approaching him.

"Jeremiah." A familiar voice said, breaking him out of his stupor.

"Lana?" He said, blinking. 'I didn't sense her?'

"What's wrong? You look like you've got a lot on your mind." She said, standing much closer to him than she needed to.

"Nothing at all. Was there something you needed?"

"Oh, well, I wanted your opinion on something. How's my new look?" She asked, smirking as she took a step back. It was then that he took the time to actually look at what she was wearing, and he raised a curious eyebrow when he saw how different it was from her usual style.

She was wearing a black tank top, along with a tight, black miniskirt, and a pair of knee high, black, high heeled boots. She even had on more makeup than usual.

"What did Whitney think when you showed him?" Jeremiah asked, spotting a number of students staring at Lana as they passed.

"Who cares what he thinks? I dumped that loser. He was always talking about his sick dad, as if I'm supposed to do something about it." She said with a roll of her eyes, and it was then that Jeremiah realized something may be wrong. "Anyway, you didn't answer my question. What do you think?"

"Can't say I'm impressed." He said, and she reeled back as if she'd been struck. 'Cortana, run a scan of Lana for me.'

"Not imp- why? Because I'm not Chloe?!" She yelled, her expression turning to one of anger. Thankfully, Jeremiah had quickly put up an illusion around them, so as to not draw any extra attention.

'Master, there's a toxin in her system, identical to the one that was in Jonathon Kent.' Cortana informed Jeremiah after completing the scan, making him frown imperceptibly. Jonathon had also suddenly started acting strangely a few days ago, according to Clark and Martha, and he had been hospitalized shortly after. He would still be in a coma right now, were it not for Jeremiah sneaking in to heal him.

"What does Chloe have to do with this?" Jeremiah asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"As if you don't know. You were just fine with blowing me off for years, while you've given Chloe all of your attention ever since she moved to this town! What does she have that I don't?!" Lana ranted, with Jeremiah holding back a sigh of irritation.

It's not as if he didn't know that Lana was attracted to him. The whole reason he had even separated himself from her, was because of her feelings for him, along with his own attraction towards her (even now, he was still attracted to her). Obviously, he didn't have anything against her, but he knew how strongly Clark felt about her, even from a young age, so he decided to just stay out of the way. Clearly, it hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped it would.

"Enough. Go to sleep, Lana." He said, not feeling like dealing with this right now. Plus, Jonathon hadn't remembered anything from when he'd been affected by the toxin, so he doubted that Lana would either, making it pointless to even have a conversation with her at the moment.

As the girl slumped against him, Jeremiah leaned his head back against his locker, tiredly staring up at the ceiling.

'Are you alright, Master?' Cortana asked with a concerned tone.

'Hey, Cortana... What do you desire most?'

'To always be there for you when you need me. For you to always be happy and healthy... To always be by your side, Master. That is my deepest desire.' She replied sincerely, her tone full of love and devotion.

'I see... You don't need to worry, Cortana. Ever since I created you over twenty years ago, there's been no-one I'd rather have as my right hand.' Jeremiah responded, closing his eyes. 'Of the many people I've met and become acquainted with over the course of my life, you're the one that I trust above all others. Never doubt that.'

'Thank you, Master.' The A.I. responded happily. 'Can I assist you with anything else?'

'That's all, for now.' He answered, cutting the connection a few moments later.

Opening his eyes, Jeremiah began using his healing magic to remove the toxin from Lana's body.

_What is your deepest desire?_

A truly troublesome question.

* * *

[ A Few Days Later ]

Walking down the streets of Smallville with one hand in a pocket of his jacket, Jeremiah scrolled through his phone with his other hand, lightly nodding his head to the song he had playing through his wireless headphones.

In the end, he never gave Chloe an answer. He didn't know what he truly desired, and he wasn't a liar.

'I wonder if this is what the humans refer to as a mid-life crisis?' He found himself wondering, before looking up when he felt a familiar aura approaching him.

"Lex." He acknowledged with a nod, pulling his headphones down so that they were resting around his neck.

"Jeremiah. Not often that I run into you." Lex said, falling in step beside Jeremiah.

"Hm." Jeremiah responded with a nod. While he didn't like the man's father, he didn't really have a problem with Lex, who was something of a blank canvas, as opposed to Lionel, who was rotten to the core.

As the two continued to make small talk while walking to their destination, Jeremiah noticed Lex looking at his phone with what he probably thought was subtle interest.

"I've been meaning to ask you for a while now, but where did you get that phone? I don't think I've ever seen anything like it."

"This old thing? I made it a couple of years ago." Jeremiah said, ignoring Lex's surprise as he continued. "I guess I should get started on a new one some time soon."

"Run that back for me. You're telling me that you actually made this?" Lex asked incredulously, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.

"Yup." Was the casual response he got, making his mind race.

"What can it do?" He decided to ask.

"Hmm... It's got a GPS, a music library, a touch screen, internet browsing, a virtual assistant, and so on. The basics, I guess." Jeremiah answered calmly. It's not like he had any need to hide it.

Lex was silent, stopping in his tracks as he stared at Jeremiah with shock. That would be impressive for anyone to make, but to do it such a young age... And to consider those features to be 'the basics'?

He made a decision.

"I want to offer you a job." He suddenly said, not wanting to miss out on such an opportunity.

Jeremiah stopped walking, and turned to him with a slightly tilted head, before he grew a small smile.

"No." He said, before continuing on his way.

"Can I ask why?." Lex pressed, walking quickly to catch up to Jeremiah.

"I'm just not interested, Lex."

"You don't even know the details yet."

"My answer wouldn't change if I did."

There was silence for a little while, before Lex broke it with a question. "Is this because of my father?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm more than aware of what most of the people in this town think about me. They think that I, like my father, am a selfish bastard, who cares little for anyone else's wants or needs. That, or that I'm just another rich, spoiled brat who's never had to work a day in his life." Lex said, sounding somewhat annoyed and frustrated as he looked off into the distance. He then turned to Jeremiah. "Well?"

With a sigh (something he seemed to be doing a lot lately), Jeremiah responded, "I can assure you, Lex, your father has nothing to do with it. I'll admit, I don't like him _at all,_ but that's where it ends. It's foolish and unfair, not to mention unreasonable, to judge someone for the sins of their father. As for why I'm not interested in whatever job you're offering, I simply have no interest in working for someone else, even if that person wasn't Lionel Luthor."

"Huh. That's an interesting take." Lex said, blinking in slight surprise, not really sure what else to say to that.

"If you say so." Jeremiah replied, shrugging. "Anyway, I have places to be, so I'll see you later."

"Oh. Sure." Lex said, watching as Jeremiah walked away, before he added one last thing. "By the way, you should know that I won't give up on that job offer so easily."

"Great." Jeremiah replied unenthusiastically, waving over his shoulder.

* * *

It was a seemingly normal night in the lively city that was Metropolis, save for the light drizzle of rain. Some people were on their way to work, while others were just getting off. Groups of friends could be seen walking and talking with each other, while others took the path of the lone traveler.

However, despite appearances, this would be anything but an ordinary night.

As a couple walked past a dark alley, they missed the sight of a fiery, hellish-looking portal slowly opening.

A charcoal, cracked and clawed hand was the first thing to come out, followed by a long, scrawny arm.

For reasons unknown to them, the citizens of Metropolis all felt chills run down their spines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done.
> 
> Now, I know this chapter was pretty uneventful. However, trust me when I say that the next chapter will definitely have some action. I'll also try to start showing more of Jeremiah's nightly escapades.
> 
> Side note: I'm a little upset about something, guys. I messed up with the timeline. By that, I don't mean that I've gotten any episodes out of order. Rather, I had wanted to make a chapter about Christmas, but since season 1 of Smallville skipped over both Thanksgiving and Christmas, I also ended up accidentally doing the same. I have thought of a way that I could possibly fix this, but I'm not sure about it, since it may make the story drag a bit.
> 
> Moving on, though, let me know if you guys want some characters to be introduced earlier than they were in canon. For instance, Zatanna wasn't in the show until season 8, and I would imagine that nobody wants it to take so long for her to be introduced in this story. If you guys want Lois to be introduced for Clark earlier, rather than having him date Alicia, then I think there's a way I could pull that off. Just let me know what you guys think. I always enjoy your feedback.
> 
> Speaking of Clark, I'm kind of unsure about how to handle him and Pete's characters. I mean, I'm not really gonna write about the things that Clark does, since we all saw it in canon. However, my problem is that, I feel like, aside from Chloe, it doesn't really seem like they're a group of close friends. Granted, Jeremiah thinks of them more as little brothers than friends, but that's besides the point. Anyway, the main reason for this problem, is that I just don't have much interest in writing about either of those two. If anyone has any suggestions/advice about this, please let me know.
> 
> With all of that said, that's gonna be it for now, guys. Hope you all found some enjoyment in the chapter.
> 
> Til next time, guys.


End file.
